On Saturday, Japan achieved a successful launch of its flagship H3 rocket, marking a significant milestone after last year's failed attempt. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency reported that the second H3 rocket was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan at 9:22 a.m. local time (12:22 a.m. GMT).
"It was confirmed that the rocket flew as planned, injecting the second stage vehicle into the designated orbit, and separating CE-SAT-IE approximately 16 minutes and 43 seconds after launch," said the agency in a statement.
Last March, Japan's flagship H3 rocket No1 was ordered to self-destruct minutes after launch due to its second-stage engine failing to ignite.
"Data from the second stage vehicle after its orbit around the Earth confirmed the sending of a separation signal to TIRSAT, the execution of a controlled re-entry of the second stage vehicle, and the separation of the rocket performance verification payload (VEP-4)," said the agency.
Last September, Japan’s lunar lander was also successfully launched into space after several delays.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida praised the successful launch of the domestically produced rocket.
"We are very happy to see such great achievements in the space field following the successful SLIM moon landing. I would like to express my respect for the efforts of everyone involved over the years, and hope that Japan's core rockets will continue to steadily accumulate achievements," he said on X.
The H3 was developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
