The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to launch its second H3 on Saturday from its Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. The setbacks of the H3 and another small rocket, Epsilon, have caused widespread delays in Japanese satellite launches. Saturday's H3 launch carries a dumbbell-shaped 2.6-ton dummy mass simulating a satellite payload. Launch operator Mitsubishi Heavy hopes to launch six H3s a year once stable production is established. Another objective is to win orders from global clients, as satellite launch demands have skyrocketed thanks to affordable commercial vehicles such as SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9.

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Persons: Kazuto Suzuki, Masayuki Eguchi, Lockheed Martin, Masashi Okada, Okada, Ko Ogasawara, Ogasawara, Kairos, Kantaro Komiya, Gerry Doyle Organizations: SLIM, University of Tokyo, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi, Epsilon, Canon Electronics, U.S, European Space Agency, United Launch Alliance Vulcan, Boeing, Lockheed, Tokyo University of Science, Technologies Locations: TOKYO, Japan, United States, India, Tokyo