Japan’s flagship H3 rocket failed to deliver a geolocation satellite into its planned orbit, a setback for the country’s new rocket program and for planned launches of its next regional navigation satellite.
JAXA said the H3 rocket carrying the Michibiki 5 satellite launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on Monday, part of Japan’s plan to develop a more precise location positioning system of its own.
At a news conference, JAXA executive and launch director Masashi Okada said the rocket’s second-stage engine burn stopped prematurely and that the subsequent separation of the satellite from the rocket could not be confirmed.
Okada said it was still unknown whether the satellite was released into space or where it ended up, and he said JAXA was investigating the data to determine the cause and other details.
A Japanese government official, Jun Kondo of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, told reporters that the failure was “extremely regrettable” and that the government set up a task force to investigate the cause and take necessary measures as soon as possible to “regain credibility.”
The Monday failure is the second for Japan’s H3 rocket, which had replaced the earlier H-2A rocket that had a near-perfect success record, and it also delayed Japan’s satellite launch plans.
JAXA said the H3 project manager, Makoto Arita, characterized the rocket as still in the early stages of operation but said it can compete globally, adding that the agency would “fully investigate the cause” and work to put H3 “back on track.”
The launch attempt came five days after JAXA aborted an H3 launch countdown just 17 seconds before liftoff, citing an abnormality in a water spray system at the launch facility, after earlier problems with the rocket.
Japan currently has the quasi-zenith satellite system, or QZSS, with five satellites for a regional navigation service that began operating in 2018, and Michibiki 5 was planned as the sixth satellite in the network.
Japan relies partly on the U.S. GPS system and has goals to expand toward a seven-satellite network by March 2026 and an 11-satellite network by the late 2030s, including for smartphone positioning, maritime navigation and drone operations without relying on GPS.
Sources in the report said Japan sees a stable, commercially competitive space launch capability as key to its space program and national security, and that the H3 rocket is designed to be more cost-competitive in the global market.