Honda successfully launches its first reusable rocket
June 18 (UPI) -- Honda says the launch of its first reusable rocket was successful as the company marks a key milestone in the build-out of its space wing by 2029.
"The test was completed successfully, the first time Honda landed a rocket after reaching an altitude of nearly 300 meters," Japan's second-biggest carmaker revealed Tuesday in a surprise announcement.
Honda's research and development arm said its prototype reusable device that is a little more than 20 feet tall launched and hit an altitude of about 889 feet during a test flight lasting less than a minute.
It safely landed on the ground a little more than a foot from its targeted landing spot at Honda's test site in the northern Japan town of Taiki in Hokkaido Prefecture, where scientists since 2024 have been conducting rocket engine combustion and hovering tests.
"We are pleased that Honda has made another step forward in our research on reusable rockets with this successful completion of a launch and landing test," Honda's Global CEO Toshihiro Mibe said in a statement.
Since 2021, Honda has been pursuing research and development in the space tech sector with a goal to see suborbital flight in the next four years.
The new development puts Honda in a fast-growing field with other companies such as Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is known for its reusable rockets, and Japan's Space One, which is also in the quest to be the first private company in Japan to put satellites in orbit.
Company officials said Tuesday's test launch aimed to demonstrate the prowess of the critical technology needed for rocket reusability, such as landing capability and flight stability on both descent and ascent.
According to Honda, demand for satellite launch rockets is expected to increase in coming years as expectations grow for "a data system in outer space."
Mibe, the company's global chief, said Honda believes that rocket research is a "meaningful endeavor" that leverages Honda's strengths.
Honda's advance came as Japan's space agency, JAXA, also hopes to be a key force in lifting satellites into orbit after the successful July 2024 liftoff of its nex-gen non-reusable H3 rocket developed by a subsidiary company Mitsubishi.
On Tuesday, Honda wrote in a statement that "although rocket research is still in the fundamental research phase, and no decisions have been made regarding commercialization of these rocket technologies, Honda will continue making progress in the fundamental research with a technology development goal of realizing technological capability to enable a suborbital launch by 2029."
Toyota became the second Japanese car maker to venture into the space industry in January with its $44 million investment in Japan-based Interstellar Technologies to aide its bid to develop satellite-launching rocket systems.
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