"Must Go to Hwaseong" Japan's 2 Trillion-Won Rocket Launch Fails... Explodes Mid-Air

Large Rocket H3 No.1 Launch Failure
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Japan failed to launch the H3 rocket, a new large-scale rocket developed as its next-generation main rocket. The H3 rocket, which cost nearly 2 trillion won in development expenses, was set to lead Japan's future Mars exploration and be utilized in space development cooperation with the United States. However, this launch failure is expected to cause significant setbacks to Japan's overall space development strategy.

The H3 rocket launched on the 7th from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, Japan. After the second stage separation, the H3 rocket failed to ignite the rocket engine and was destroyed in midair. Tanegashima=AP·Yonhap News

According to NHK on the 7th, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the first H3 rocket carrying a satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima at 10:37 a.m., but failed to ignite the second-stage engine, leading to a decision to destroy the rocket mid-air. The first-stage engine of the H3 rocket burned normally, and the separation between the first and second stages proceeded, but the second-stage engine ignition failed.

Judging that the satellite could not reach its planned orbit, JAXA issued an order to destroy the rocket around 10:52 a.m. Afterwards, JAXA officially announced the launch failure, stating to the media, "Success cannot be expected. It is effectively a failure." Koichi Yonemoto, a rocket engine expert and professor at the University of Tokyo, told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) that "there may have been an abnormality in the second-stage engine body or its control system."

The H3 is a successor model designed to replace Japan's main large rocket, the H2A, and has been under development by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and JAXA since 2014. It was designed to increase the size of the vehicle and improve satellite launch capabilities compared to the previous model. The project involved an investment of 200 billion yen (approximately 2 trillion won).

The H3 was planned to be used for the U.S. manned lunar exploration Artemis program and Japan's world-first attempt to collect Martian soil. Japan is planning the 'MMX Project,' which aims to send a Mars probe in 2024 to collect Martian soil and return it to Earth. However, concerns have arisen that the project’s schedule will be significantly delayed due to this launch failure.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Previously, the H3 was scheduled for its first launch in 2020 but was postponed twice due to repeated problems during main engine testing. After completing the final test in November last year, the H3 launch was attempted again on the 17th of last month but failed because the auxiliary rocket did not ignite after the main engine ignition. The cause was a malfunction in the first-stage control system.

Japanese media also expressed concerns that future space development plans would be disrupted. Nikkei reported, "It will be difficult to conduct the next rocket launch until the cause is identified and countermeasures are established." This is because the cause of the failure of the small solid-fuel rocket Epsilon No. 6, which failed to launch in October last year, is still under investigation five months later. Nikkei added, "Japan develops large and small rockets separately, but since both have failed, it is difficult to predict future launch plans."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.