A suborbital/sounding rocket launch of the Japanese SS-520 (Two Stage Suborbital) rocket was launched from the Svalbard Rocket Range in Norway at 1009 GMT on 4 November 2021. It flew to an altitude of 956 km before re-entering and falling into the ocean downrange, South-South West of the launch site. The Jaxa operated rocket carried aboard suborbital experiment is to examine the plasma outflow phenomena in the cusp region. The launch was unusual in going from the Norwegian launch site at Svalbard, rather than its more usual Kagoshima launch site in Japan. According to the Seradata launch and satellite database, the SS-520 rocket has flown five times in total: three suborbital launches using it two stage suborbital version, and twice to orbit using the three stage orbital version.
