When Japan’s space agency issued a self-destruct command to its new flagship rocket this week, it was more than just the 63-metre H3 that went up in smoke.
Within 15 minutes of the rocket’s launch from the southern island of Tanegashima, an engine failure crushed nearly a decade’s worth of efforts that were a source of national pride and a symbol of Tokyo’s technological prowess and oversized ambitions to join the top league of global space competition.
“Japan’s future depends on the H3 rocket,” Masashi Okada, a project manager at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa), said at a news conference following the failed launch on Tuesday. “We will aim for its return to flight as early as possible.”
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