Japan aims to build its own rockets and maintain an independent payload capability into orbit. It is scheduled to complete the country’s current active missile, the H-IIA additional excursions next year. H3 missile Built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industriesto replace this rocket and enhance Japan’s domestic spaceflight capabilities.
Japan is struggling to deploy new missiles, said Kazuto Suzuki, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy and a member of Japan’s National Space Policy Committee.
While Japan has expressed an interest in competing in the commercial market for rocket launches, he said its efforts were an over-engineering, with an emphasis on “technical excellence” rather than affordability and practical utility.
“I think this is a good occasion to start thinking about what went wrong in developing our launch,” he said. “If you want to have more robust technology, more efficient technology, limit changes.”
During Tuesday’s press conference, JAXA President Yamakawa said the agency should emphasize “trustworthiness and transparency” as it seeks to make its launch program more attractive to potential clients.
Japan is not alone in the failure of a new missile in its first flight. In January, an American company, ABL Space Systems, The company’s first rocket was lost Shortly after takeoff from the launch site in Alaska. Chinese company, Landspace, It lost its Zhuque-2 missile on its first orbital flight in December.
And while the Japanese H3 missile failed on Tuesday, another new missile will be tested this week in the United States. On Wednesday, the US company Relativity Space will attempt the first launch of its Terran 1 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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