After several setbacks, including the launch of the rocket’s first flight last year, Japan’s space programme is back on track with the successful launch of its new H3 flagship rocket on Saturday.
The launch also represents the second consecutive victory for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which made Japan the fifth nation to land a spacecraft on the moon last month when its lunar lander, SLIM, made a “pinpoint” touchdown.
Japan, a relatively minor player in terms of space launches, is working with ally the United States to counter China and is looking to revive its programme.
After the H3 successfully released a small satellite, delighted scientists at the Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Japan hugged, shouted, and applauded one another. During its nearly two-hour flight, the rocket also released a microsatellite and a dummy satellite.
Masashi Okada, the JAXA project manager who oversaw the new rocket’s ten-year development, said at a press conference that “the newborn H3 has just made its first cry”. The two-decade-old H-IIA, which is retiring after two more launches, is expected to be replaced by the H3.
Japan might have lost its independence in space if there had been one more unsuccessful flight. When the second-stage engine failed to ignite during the first launch in March, ground control destroyed the rocket 14 minutes after lift-off. In an October review, JAXA identified three potential electrical faults, but it was unable to pinpoint the exact cause. JAXA’s tiny rocket Epsilon had also failed to launch five months prior.
The agency hopes to use automotive-grade electronics and simpler structures to cut the cost of each launch down to as little as five billion yen ($33 million), which is half of what an H-IIA launch would cost. The 63 m (297 ft) H3 is intended to carry a 6.5 metric tonne payload.
