The success came just over a year after JAXA's original experiment with an SS-520 rocket ended in failure. Crews decided against igniting the second stage when the vehicle lost all telemetry data a mere 20 seconds after takeoff. An investigation later determined that the likely cause was a poorly protected electrical connection, and the agency decided to try again this year with a fix in place.

There are no known plans to launch similar SS-520 missions in the near future, so this probably won't become a regular occurrence for a while. It does take Japan one step closer to regular mini satellite launches, however. And Japan isn't alone -- companies like Rocket Lab are making progress on their own small rockets powerful enough for orbital delivery. Large rockets aren't going away any time soon, but they might not be nearly as vital as they used to be.