TOKYO – Japan’s much-vaunted launch of its flagship rocket was a fizzer – a disappointing result as competition with billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX intensifies and Japan looks to expand its defence prowess amid growing geopolitical tensions.
While weather conditions were good, the H3 rocket’s side booster failed to ignite, officials said on Friday morning. Sparks flew from the craft as it prepared to take off, but within seconds, it spluttered to a halt.
“It’s expected that it will take longer to examine the situation,” the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said during a live broadcast after the launch was aborted.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries spent almost a decade designing and building the H3, a 63m-tall rocket it says offers a cheaper, more reliable alternative to competitors. Mr Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies is developing a rocket that can be landed and reused; the H3 cannot do that.
The H3 was supposed to make its inaugural launch on Friday morning from the Tanegashima Space Centre in south-western Japan, using an explosive 267 tonnes of vertical force to escape the grip of Earth’s gravitational pull and deliver a satellite known as Daichi-3 into orbit.
The launch was originally scheduled to happen five days earlier but was postponed twice because of inclement weather. The rocket was also supposed to be introduced late in 2022, but its unveiling was delayed twice owing to issues with the main engine, according to Jaxa.
The satellite mounted on the rocket is equipped with a multitude of instruments, one of which is a sensor designed to detect missile launches that is being tested in space for the first time by the Japanese Defence Ministry.
The H3 replaced the H2-A, which was introduced in 2001, as Japan’s flagship rocket.
As nations race to claim their slice of a growing aerospace market, Jaxa said it aims to launch six satellites a year into space for the next 20 years.
For a long time, the main issue was price. At about US$90 million (S$121 million) a launch, the H2-A had a similar payload capacity but came at a greater price than SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster, which costs US$67 million per launch. According to Jaxa, launching the H3 once costs US$50 million.
While rockets with large payload capacities account for a fraction of the global space economy, the commercial satellite industry generated US$386 billion in 2021 and continues to grow, according to data from the Satellite Industry Association. BLOOMBERG
