After launching on the 7th, Japan’s new flagship rocket H3 is reported to have failed again due to a defect.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched H3 on time from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan at 10:37 am on the same day.
According to NHK, H3 was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center, but the launch failed because the second stage rocket did not ignite and sent a command destruction signal afterwards.
Currently, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is investigating the details.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, etc., the H3 is equipped with Daichi 3, the government’s Earth observation satellite, which is used to determine damage in case of a disaster.
The launch was made on time, and it could have been successful if the satellite could later be separated from outer space and put into orbit, but a problem with the ignition of the second stage rocket caused the launch to fail.
The H3 is the successor to the H2A and flies using liquid fuel. The maximum height is about 63m, which is about 10m taller than H2A, but this H3 uses a short type for the satellite mounting part and is about 57m long.
H3 was developed in 2014 by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The development cost is about 200 billion yen. It adopted the new main engine ‘LE-9’ with a different combustion method from H2A. It was designed to reduce the number of engine parts by about 20% and increase the thrust by about 1.4 times that of the H2A.
Initially, the first flight was planned for 2020, but during the test of LE-9, defects occurred one after another, and the launch was delayed two times. With the goal of improvement, the final test was completed in November last year. JAXA attempted a launch on February 17 this year, but after turning on the main engine, it detected an abnormality right before the auxiliary rocket was ignited, so it automatically stopped and failed to launch.
As a result of the investigation, it was found that the cause was a malfunction of the first stage control device of the aircraft. JAXA identified the cause of the launch suspension and reset the launch date to the 7th through test verification.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.