Japan has launched its flagship H3 rocket in a closely watched 2nd test after failed debut last year
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — A new Japanese flagship H3 rocket lifted off from a space station in southwestern Japan on Saturday in a key second test flight a year after its failed debut launch. The H3 rocket blasted off from a launch pad at the Tanegashima Space Center two days after its originally scheduled liftoff that was delayed due to bad weather. The rocket’s initial flight has been smooth as planned, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said in its livestreaming. JAXA and its main contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have been developing H3 as a successor to its current mainstay, H-2A.
