The H3 Launch Vehicle is Japan's new flagship rocket aiming at achieving high flexibility, high reliability, and high-cost performance.t was supposed to launch to deal with various payload sizes and orbits. Its launch capability to the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) will be the highest ever, exceeding that of the existing H-IIA and H-IIB Launch Vehicles.

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Edited by| Hugh Gey

humamity section - CJ journalist

8 march 2023 -Tokyio

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H3 is under development to be a successor to H-IIA and H-IIB so that Japan can maintain its autonomous access to space to launch satellites and probes including important missions for the government.

But H3 failed to be launched, according to the president of Japan's space agency on Tuesday apologized for its new flagship H3 rocket being ordered to self-destruct after another major technical problem, raising questions over the country's future space missions.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) President Hiroshi Yamakawa apologized at a press conference, saying that the mission being aborted had "failed to meet the public's expectations."

The self-destruct order being issued to blow up the successor to the country's reliable H2A rocket follows a similar order being issued for the agency's Epsilon-6 rocket last October just minutes after blastoff.

JAXA said of Tuesday's failure that the 57-meter rocket blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center launch site in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in the morning as scheduled, but was ordered to self-destruct minutes later because the second-stage engine failed to ignite.

Yamakawa said JAXA would "devote itself to finding out the cause of the issue and restoring public trust in the agency."

The launch of the H3 rocket has been delayed a number of times for multiple system glitches and bad weather.

On Feb. 17, JAXA said it scrapped the launch of the rocket after an electrical current from the airframe's battery to its main engine's control unit was cut for several seconds.

The latest in a string of delays to the rocket's maiden mission has now raised serious questions over the future of Japan's plans to be a viable contender in the competitive satellite launching a business for domestic and international clients.

JAXA jointly developed the H3 rocket with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in the agency's first upgrade of its mainstay launch vehicle in around 20 years.

With revamp costs topping 200 billion yen (1.47 billion U.S. dollars), along with satellites, the new rocket has been designed to carry a cargo transporter capable of delivering supplies to the International Space Station and the planned Gateway lunar-orbiting outpost.

The H3 rocket can potentially carry a payload roughly 30 percent heavier than its predecessor, with launches estimated to cost 50 percent less.

It was supposed to put into orbit Tuesday an earth observation satellite called DAICHI-3, which was purported to be used to assist in disaster management situations.

But Katsuhiko Hara, a senior science ministry official, said at the JAXA press conference Tuesday that the latest failure would have a significant impact on the space program, and pending the outcome of the investigation, its future plans would be carefully considered.

Keiko Nagaoka, minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, also expressed her disappointment and concern at the latest mishap, describing it as "extremely regrettable."

She said her ministry along with JAXA would "promptly and thoroughly determine what caused the failure."

The new rocket's H2A predecessor, since its introduction in 2001, failed only once in 46 launches and had raised hopes for Japan to be a viable contender in the competitive and highly lucrative satellite launching business.