Japan cancels the launch of its new H3 space rocket

17 Feb. () –

The Japan Space Agency (JAXA) has canceled the launch of its first H3 launch vehicle, scheduled for this Friday, after a fault detected during the countdown.

The new rocket was to take off at 0137 UTC from the Tanegashima space center carrying the Advanced Earth Observation Satellite-3 DAICHI-3 (ALOS-3), dedicated to monitoring natural disasters. Although the main engine fired, the auxiliaries did not.

“During the automatic countdown operations, an abnormality was detected in the first stage system and the ignition signals for the SRB-3s were not sent. Therefore, today’s scheduled launch has been cancelled,” JAXA explained. it’s a statement.

The new H3 is a two-stage rocket that has a height of 63 meters and a mass of 574 tons. It can carry up to 6.5 tons to geostationary transfer orbit.

The rocket, the first renovation among Japan’s space launchers in 20 years, is seen as key to Japan’s participation in the next generation of space development, including the US-led lunar exploration program. It is expected to provide Japan with a foothold in the increasingly competitive satellite launch business, reports The Mainichi newspaper.

The launch of the rocket was initially scheduled for the end of March 2021, but the date was delayed about two years due to problems with the LE-9 first stage engine, of new development, and the replacement of parts after the failure of the launch of the Epsilon-6 rocket in October.

The failure of that smaller rocket meant that last year marked the first time in 18 years that there had not been a single successful launch of a domestically developed rocket in Japan.