H3 Rocket Disappoints Space Enthusiasts

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The failure of the new H3 rocket in a test conducted last Friday has disappointed those hoping for rapid advances in the Japanese space program.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which led the project, explained that the main engine ignited, but that the solid rocket boosters did not. This left the new flagship Japanese rocket sitting helplessly on its launch pad at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.

This disappointment follows a mishap last October when an Epsilon-6 rocket misfired after a launch from Uchinoura Space Center, also in Kagoshima Prefecture, forcing controllers to engage its self-destruct function.

The H3 is long overdue to enter service. The first launch was supposed to take place in FY2020, but it has been significantly delayed.

It is unclear when the next launch will be scheduled, particularly since JAXA officials were not immediately certain what went wrong on Friday.

The H3 is supposed to become the more advanced successor to Japan’s H-IIA rocket launch vehicle. It is a major national project.

The launch failure even drew a comment from Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, who tried to assure reporters that “this will not have an immediate effect on our country’s space policy.”

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