Japan's reusable rocket test vehicle successfully takes off and lands after rising 11 meters

[Financial News] Japan has succeeded in a test flight of a reusable rocket.
According to Kyodo News and other foreign media on the 11th, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) carried out a flight test of the small reusable rocket test vehicle 'RV-X' at its test site in Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture, that day.
According to JAXA, RV-X is a test vehicle about 1.8 meters in diameter and 7.3 meters long. It rose to about 11 meters shortly after launch. It then hovered briefly in the air, moved horizontally for 16 meters, descended, and landed successfully, completing a 40-second flight.
Japanese media said the test brought Japan one step closer to the practical use of reusable rockets.
If rockets are reused instead of being used only once, the frequency of satellite launches and other space transport missions can increase while costs are reduced.
SpaceX, the space company led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was the first to commercialize reusable rockets. China has also succeeded in related test flights, and Russia is reportedly actively developing the technology as well.
To reuse a rocket, technologies such as guidance and fuel management are needed to bring the vehicle back to a specific location. Lightweight design is also required because landing equipment must be installed on the vehicle. If these technologies are commercialized, the cost of space development could be dramatically reduced.
Japan has been developing related technologies with the goal of launching its first reusable rocket around 2030.
In June last year, Honda R&D Institute, a subsidiary of the Japanese automaker Honda, became the first private Japanese company to succeed in a takeoff-and-landing test of a reusable rocket.
mj@fnnews.com Park Moon-soo Reporter