Japan's Space Agency Conducts First Test Flight for Experimental Reusable Rocket
- On Saturday, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully conducted the first test flight of its RV-X prototype reusable rocket at the Noshiro Testing Center in Akita Prefecture, completing a 40-second flight.
- Co-Developed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the 7.3-meter-long RV-X features enhanced durability engines and represents Japan's effort to develop a lower-cost successor to its single-use H3 series.
- The rocket reached 11 meters in altitude and traveled 16 meters horizontally during the test, with project manager Takashi Ito reporting the team 'obtained very useful data.'
- Japan seeks to narrow the gap with SpaceX, which has operated reusable rockets since 2017, as China achieved its first successful first-stage reusable rocket recovery on Friday.
- JAXA will apply data from this flight to the Callisto reusable vehicle, jointly developed with France and Germany, with engineers planning a flight test before next April.
64 Articles
64 Articles
First test flight: Japan's experimental reusable rocket hovers, lands
The RV-X rocket lifted off, hovered and moved horizontally before landing during its less than one-minute flight at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Noshiro Testing Center in northeastern Japan.
The test was conducted at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Noshiro Experimental Center in the northeastern part of the country, the Associated Press reported. The flight was broadcast live by NVS, a space enthusiasts' group. The RV-X rocket lifted off, hovered, and moved horizontally before landing during a flight lasting less than a minute. As planned, it reached an altitude of 11 meters and traveled a distance of 16 meters while…
For the first time in its history, the Japanese space agency managed to recover a small experimental launcher after taking off. The flight lasted about 40 seconds and the prototype, launched from the Noshiro test site, reached ten meters high.
China uses nets to secure boosters, while Japan challenges with an 11-meter vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) reusable launch vehicle. China and Japan are successively issuing challenges to the reusable launch vehicle market, which has been dominated by Elon Musk's SpaceX. On the 10th, China [held] the first-stage booster of the rocket that launched an actual satellite into space on a large [tank] above the sea...
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