Japan's space program seeks reboot with Wednesday launch

Japan will on Wednesday try to reboot its space program with a second test flight for its H3 booster. The H3 has been a decade in the making and can launch under its own power, or with the assistance of two or four external boosters. The craft's payload capabilities don't vastly exceed the workhorse H-IIA that Japan has …

[tony72]

The fact that it's so hard to get an orbital-class rocket to work *once*, just serves to highlight how impressive SpaceX is with their Falcon 9 rockets making twenty-plus flights per booster. Anyway, go H3!

[Gene Cash]

Actually Space Karen does have a point about "flight proven" boosters.

Rockets are always in that beginning slope of the bathtub curve, and subsequent flights are just plain going to be more reliable.

For example, you know some drunk Russian didn't hammer the accelerometers in upside down. (unfortunately, that's a true story)

Go H3! And the probe rolling over still got 95% of its objectives accomplished. I wouldn't call that a failure. Hell of a lot better than other people have done on their first attempt at a Lunar landing.

[John Robson]

I think the record is currently 19, it was unfortunately lost during the barge transport back to shore - Several of those merlins are likely to be reused though.

[tony72]

Yes, 19 is the record so far, but Elon said they are now qualifying them for 40 flights.

[Spherical Cow]

Yes the multiple flights per Falcon 9 is very impressive.

Remember though, SpaceX had many failures in the early days, and JAXA is hoping to get this new rocket to orbit on just the second try: that will also be a very impressive achievement.

[Spherical Cow]

Black (orange) box?

"One is romantically named the "Vehicle Evaluation Payload-4" and weighs about as much as the kind of payloads future H3 launches are hoped to hoist. It includes acoustic and temperature sensors, plus accelerometers, to help JAXA understand the launcher's performance."

That sounds like a very sensible piece of kit to send up on a test launch. I'm kinda surprised this isn't already done for pretty much all new rockets. It would be particularly useful if the flight data is recorded in a recoverable RUD-proof box such as the ones used in aeroplanes for many decades.