Japan successfully launched its flagship H3 rocket Friday morning, marking the resumption of the rocket’s flights roughly six months after a failed mission in December and the first flight of a new low-cost configuration intended to strengthen the country’s competitiveness in the global launch market.
H3 Launch Vehicle No. 6 lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 9:53 a.m., according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It reached its target orbit approximately 16 minutes later.
Friday’s mission was the first flight of the H3’s “30 configuration,” a booster-free variant equipped with three first-stage liquid-fueled LE-9 engines and no solid rocket boosters. The configuration is expected to be the lowest-cost model in the H3 series.
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