Japan’s H3 flagship rocket fails to lift off after engine glitch
- The H3’s main engine cut off after the launch countdown had reached zero, leaving the rocket on its launch pad at the Tanegashima spaceport along with its payload
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries built the H3 as a cheaper alternative to rivals, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX
“A lot of people have been following our progress and we are really sorry,” the H3 project manager at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Masahisa Okada said at a media briefing as he wiped away tears.
“It is really galling,” he added.
Okada said JAXA would aim for a second attempt before the end of March.
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It is designed to put government and commercial satellites into orbit and ferry supplies to the International Space Station. As part of Tokyo’s deepening cooperation with the United States in space, later variants will also carry cargo to the Gateway lunar space station that Nasa plans to build as part of its programme to return people to the moon.
The US has promised Japan a seat on one of its crewed lunar missions.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the H3’s builder and launch manager, hopes the rocket will boost its space ambitions as SpaceX shakes up commercial launches with its reusable rockets, including the Falcon 9.
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Japan's new flagship H3 rocket aborts take off after engine failure
A September report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies put the cost of a Falcon 9 launch to low earth orbit at US$2,600 per kilogram. The equivalent price tag for H3’s predecessor, the H-II, is US$10,500.
“With the H3 we are aiming to halve the cost per launch,” a Mitsubishi Heavy spokesperson said before the planned launch.
A successful first mission would have put the Japanese rocket into space ahead of the planned launch this year of the European Space Agency’s new lower-cost Ariane vehicle.
