Japan has successfully launched the new generation H-3 rocket after a failure last year. The rocket was launched on Saturday (February 17) from the Tanegashima Space Center on the southwestern island of Tanegashima in Kagoshima Prefecture. British news agency Reuters reported this news.
With this launch, the record of sending a rocket into space for the second time in a row is held by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Earlier, the agency sent the SLIM lander to the moon last month.
The H-3 rocket was ‘successfully lifted off’ at 9:22am Tokyo time. JAXA shared the moment of the rocket launch live. Meanwhile, scientists at the Tanegashima Space Center were seen clapping and hugging each other happily.
The agency later said the rocket had successfully jettisoned all the extra weight, including two microsatellites and a dummy satellite.
The next-generation H-3 rocket is expected to replace the two-decade-old H-2 rocket. JAXA and prime contractor company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries hope the rocket’s low cost and large weight capacity will attract the attention of international customers and receive a good response from them.
The 63 m (297 ft) long H-3 rocket is capable of carrying a payload of 6.5 metric tons into space. Its simple structure and automobile-grade electronics reduced the cost per launch to 5 billion yen, or $3.3 million. Which is almost half compared to previous generation rocket H-2. Each of its launches costs about one trillion yen.
The Japanese government plans to launch about 20 satellites and probes using H-3 rockets by 2030.
This rocket will send a lunar explorer for the joint Japan-India LUPEX project in 2025. It will also provide cargo spacecraft for the future US-led Artemis lunar mission.
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