Japan’s Planned Launch Program Hit by Major Setback Following Failed Rocket

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) planned to launch its latest flagship rocket, H3, today as part of a disaster management program. Unfortunately, the event didn’t go as planned, with the rocket going into self-destruct mode. This is the second time H3 has failed to launch properly to begin the mission.

CNN initially reported the failed launch this morning. According to Jaxa, one of the controllers sent an instruction to the rocket to destruct when it realized that the launch wouldn’t succeed. Basically, the H3’s second stage didn’t ignite as planned, which is when the approaching failure was detected. 

The first launch of H3 also failed on February 17, 2023. There were secondary boosters attached to the side of the rocket, which refused to ignite, causing a similar issue. Sadly, it meant H3 was doomed for failure back then already. 

These failed launches are causing significant setbacks for JAXA. H3 is supposed to be an improved upgrade from the previous H-2A and H-2B, designed for commercial and governmental missions. It’s supposed to carry the Advance Land Observation Satellite-3 (ALOS-3), created to map the ground and capture images in an effort to help with future disaster management planning and control.

Perhaps they should approach Elon Musk’s SpaceX company. They’ve been having quite a bit of success with the launch of Falcon 9’s 53 satellites. Who knows; maybe they have a better idea of how to get H3 to launch properly.