Japan will make a second attempt to launch its new flagship rocket on March 6.
(Bloomberg) — Japan will make a second attempt to launch its new flagship rocket on March 6.
Masashi Okada, project manager of the H3 rocket’s development team, said on Friday that weather at the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan will ultimately decide whether the launch goes ahead in the morning as planned.
The H3, a 63-meter-tall rocket designed and created by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. over the course of a decade, failed to launch on Feb. 17 after a system malfunction originating from the main engine stopped an ignition signal from reaching its side booster. Okada said an investigation into the precise cause of the malfunction had been conducted.
Read more: Next-Generation Japanese Rocket Aborts Before Launch
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is racing to claim its slice of the growing global space market as Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, continues to develop next-generation rockets that can be landed remotely and reused.
“We certainly hope the launch is successful this time,” Okada said.
Separately, JAXA earlier this week tapped a 28-year-old surgeon and a 46-year-old banker to become its first new astronauts in more than a decade as the country takes a giant leap toward its ambitions to reach the moon.
Read more: Japan Taps Doctor and Banker to Be Astronauts in Race to Moon
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