Japan’s step toward cheaper rocket launchesーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
Japan’s space agency has taken a step toward cutting launch costs and becoming more competitive in the global market. Workers successfully completed an engine combustion test in preparation for launching a new configuration of the H3 rocket. They did the test at the Tanashima Space Center. The procedures closely resembled those of an actual launch with the rocket secured to the pad. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, says the engines finished burning in 25 seconds as planned. The 83 rocket’s new configuration does not include two solid boosters that were originally fitted. Jax says staff plan to analyze data from the test ready for the sixth 83 rocket launch. Japan will be trying for the first time to send a big liquid fueled rocket into space without boosters. We are joined now by Hiata Mizuki who covers Japan’s space development. Mizuki, so it appears this latest test was a success. Could you give us a bird’s eye view of the stage Japan has reached with its rocket program? Uh right now Japan is in a transition. It’s moving from long serving rockets to new generation. Uh it’s has two flagship rocket developments projects and they are both approaching critical stages. So what is actually happening? Uh last month uh Japan officially retired it leading loces the H2A. The HCA launched lots of Japanese satellites and payloads from countries such as South Korea, the UAE, Canada, and the UK. Out of 50 launches, it’s only failed once. That’s a success rate of 98%. Which is high internationally. But despite high reliability, the H2A was considered expensive compared with foreign competitors. That’s why Japan started developing a successor. That’s new rocket is the A3. Its first flight ended in failure. But the next four were successful. The upcoming flight six will be the first without the usual to solid booster log. This reduces payload capacity but also cut launch cost by about half. This marks the debut of the new type A3 in its more costefficient configuration. its final test was conducted to gather critical data. So you mentioned there are two rockets in development in Japan. Um first one is H3 you just explained. So what’s the other one? The other is a smaller one called the Ipsion S. It’s being developed to meet growing demand for launching small satellite. However, the project has had setbacks. Progress was stored by two combustion test that ended in explosions. So, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Jax is labing and devising the development plan. The rockets capabilities will be scaled down but the goal is achieve a area round. So both rockets are at critical stage in development. Uh what are Japan’s ambitions after these projects? Uh Japan is a striving to get a leading position in global satellite launch industry. The global space market is forecast to triple from 2020 level by 2040. That means a scale of 1 to US dollars and demand for satellite launches countries are continued to lie. So number of locate loans is also growing. Japan’s cabinet office says the number of global rocket launches carrying satellite in 2024 was two and a half times as many as in 2019. The United States conducted 153 and China 66. So those two countries accounted for nearly 80% of the total. Japan is aiming to tap into this growing demand by using domestically made locates to launch satellites from overseas clients. However, global competition is fierce. To stay competitive, Japan needs to reduce launch cost and increase launch frequency. For now, the key is a successful complete the development project underway. Thank you for your insight, Mizuki.
Japan’s space agency has done a rocket combustion test that’s a step toward cheaper launches.
We examine where Japan stands in the competition for payloads.
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