Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

Japan’s advanced H3 launch vehicle successfully completed a test flight on Friday morning, AzerNEWS reports.

The rocket was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center at 09:52 Tokyo time (04:52 Baku time).

As part of the mission, the H3 carried a VEP-5 scale model along with six small satellites from Japan and France into a sun-synchronous orbit, which is commonly used for Earth observation and environmental monitoring due to its consistent lighting conditions.

This was the first launch of the H3 rocket following an accident on December 22, 2025, which occurred due to a malfunction in the second stage. The failure resulted in the loss of the Michibiki-5 navigation satellite (QZS-5), dealing a setback to Japan’s positioning system program.

Earlier, in March, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) conducted static fire tests of the H3’s first stage in the H3-30 configuration. This version differs from earlier designs by eliminating side solid-fuel boosters and using three LE-9 liquid oxygen–hydrogen engines instead of two, improving efficiency and thrust stability.

This mission marks the eighth launch of the H3 rocket, which is intended to replace the older H2A launch system. The rocket stands 63 meters tall, has a diameter of 5.2 meters, and is capable of carrying payloads between 4 and 6.5 tons. It was developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in collaboration with JAXA.

Interestingly, space analysts view this successful flight as an important confidence boost for Japan’s space program, especially after the previous failure. If reliability continues to improve, the H3 could become a key competitor in the global commercial launch market, particularly for medium-lift satellite missions.