Japan kind-of completes its sovereign satnav constellation

Japan has successfully launched the last of the current generation of the satellite navigation orbiters it will use to operate a sovereign positioning system. The satellite, known as “Michibiki No. 7”, aka QZS-7, made it into orbit early on Tuesday, local time, aboard an H3 rocket. The H3 is the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) latest mid-range launcher and has flown nine times. Two of those missions failed, most recently in December 2025 when glue caused fatal problems. The payload of that flight was QZS-5 – an earlier satellite navigation orbiter. Japan wants its own satellite positioning system because Global Positioning System (GPS) signals can’t always reach all locations across the country – especially...

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