Earlier this week, Japanese cargo was launched towards space by two commercial companies. Unfortunately, only of the rockets made it into space.
On March 13, US company Rocket Lab launched a payload for Japan’s Synspective, an Earth-imaging company, from its launch site in New Zealand. The launch was successful and the StriX-3 satellite was placed into Earth orbit.
The second launch on the same day by Japan’s Space One, which would have been the first commercial launch by a Japanese firm, ended quickly when the rocket burst into flames just a few seconds after liftoff. The rocket was carrying a mock-up of a government spy satellite.
Space One President Masakazu Toyoda stated, “We will find out the cause as soon as possible and clarify our measures to prevent a recurrence.”
Getting it right may take time, as we are seeing with SpaceX’s Starship. Japan wants to maintain strong launch capabilities in both the public and private sectors, and this is just part of the process to make that happen.
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