The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced the date for the upcoming launch of the heavy-lift "H3" rocket. Regarding the matter, the head of the agency stated: "Following the unsuccessful attempt in March of last year, we expect the next launch of the H3 rocket to take place in the next fiscal year, which is between April 2024 and March 2025." He added, "We have made significant progress concerning the reliability of this rocket, and we have decided to proceed with the launch during the next fiscal year based on the results of additional tests we conducted on the combustion systems of the rocket's main engine."
The development of the H3 rockets began in 2013, in collaboration between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and JAXA, with the first launch initially scheduled for 2020. However, this was postponed due to the discovery of vibrations in the main engine at that time. On March 7 of last year, JAXA conducted the first launch of the H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, but the operation was halted minutes after takeoff due to a failure of the second stage engines, resulting in the rocket being dropped into the sea east of the Philippines.
