Japan announces successful launch of new space rocket

The Japanese space agency JAXA announced the successful takeoff of its new H3 shuttle rocketafter years of delay and two previous failed attempts.

He H3 rocket took off as planned at 09:23 (00:23 GMT) from the Tanegashima space base, in the southwest of the archipelago, and “was put into orbit” minutes later, said an official from JAXA to the AFP.

The success of this shuttle is added to that of the SLIM missiona small module of the JAXA which he managed to place precisely on the Moon last month, a historic milestone for Japan and for the aerospace industry.

He H3an imposing rocket 63 meters high and 574 tons not counting the payload, should allow Japan make more frequent flights (about six per year) and less expensive.

The objective is to compete with foreign models such as the Falcon 9 of the American private company SpaceX in the competitive and growing sector of low-cost space launches.

Developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industrieshe H3 It is the successor to the H-IIA launch system that began operation in 2001.

The two previous failures of this new rocket called into question the reputation for reliability of space flights. JAXAbut those responsible presented improvements in the ignition systems that seem to have worked.

The H3 is loaded with two small satellites, which undocked correctly, he said. JAXA.

One of them must take images and videos to contribute to disaster prevention and another, equipped with an infrared ray sensor, must detect the conditions of activity in the factories.

The first failed attempt to launch the H3 It occurred in February of last year, after several years of delay in the program. Then, the takeoff was canceled because the thrusters did not ignite.

Then, on a second attempt in March, the rocket was ordered to self-destruct when the command center concluded the mission could not be successful.