Japan’s space agency celebrated a successful launch of its new flagship rocket on Saturday, making it third time lucky after years of delays and two prior failures.
The next-generation H3 has been proposed as a competitor to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, with the potential to deliver cargo to lunar outposts in the future.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
“I’ve been in the space industry for a long time, but I’ve never felt so happy or relieved,” said Hiroshi Yamakawa, president of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
The new launch comes after Japan successfully landed an unmanned probe on the Moon last month, albeit at an odd angle, becoming only the sixth country to do so.
Japan’s space agency celebrated a successful launch of its new flagship rocket on Saturday, making it third time lucky after years of delays and two prior failures.
Next-generation H3
The next-generation H3 has been proposed as a competitor to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, with the potential to deliver cargo to lunar outposts in the future.
“I’ve been in the space industry for a long time, but I’ve never felt so happy or relieved,” said Hiroshi Yamakawa, president of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
JAXA control centre
The new launch comes after Japan successfully landed an unmanned probe on the Moon last month, albeit at an odd angle, becoming only the sixth country to do so.
The H3 lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Centre in southwestern Japan at 9:22 a.m. (0022 GMT).
Cheers and cheers could be heard from the JAXA control centre as the agency’s live video revealed that the H3’s engines had successfully burnt, indicating that the rocket had entered orbit.
The H3, developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is the successor to the H-IIA launch system, which debuted in 2001.
According to JAXA, the vessel is designed for “high flexibility, high reliability, and high cost performance” and will “maintain Japan’s autonomous access to space”.
Unlike the reusable Falcon 9, the H3 is disposable, but experts believe the demonstration of its world-first technology is noteworthy.
“The H3 rocket has a unique and novel first-stage engine that delivers greater thrust compared to state-of-the-art rockets,” said Michele Trenti, director of the Melbourne Space Laboratory at the University of Melbourne.
The H3 “has the potential to be the most cost-effective rocket”, making the exploration of the solar system more affordable.
Inaugural Launch
Its inaugural launch has been marred by difficulties. A February 2023 launch was cancelled when ignition problems left the rocket immobile on the ground.
Technical issues caused a destruct instruction to be issued shortly after launch on the second attempt in March of last year.
Even the most recent launch was postponed by four days owing to severe weather. The rocket that launched successfully on Saturday was carrying two tiny satellites.
One of the microsatellites is supposed to help with catastrophe prevention by gathering photographs and videos.
The other, fitted with an infrared ray sensor, is designed to monitor factory operations on the ground. The separation of the microsatellites was also confirmed, according to JAXA’s live webcast.
“We will keep analysing the sequences after successfully putting the rocket into orbit,” a JAXA official said.
Greater thrust
Associate professor Alice Gorman, a space exploration expert at Flinders University, described H3 as “an all-rounder — able to launch satellites into Earth orbit, serve as a supply vehicle for space stations, and go to the Moon.”
The successful launch restores JAXA’s reputation following a spate of failures, including that of a different rocket, the Epsilon-6, which uses solid fuel.
Japan successfully landed its SLIM spacecraft nicknamed “Moon Sniper” on the lunar surface last month, despite the fact that the craft’s solar panels were facing the incorrect way.
To read our blog on “NASA sends a spacecraft to the metal liked-object Psyche,” click here
