JAXA to give second shot at H3 rocket launch Thursday

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency — also known as JAXA — plans to launch the second unit of its H3 new liquid fuel rocket Thursday after failing to launch the first unit in March 2023.

JAXA finished its preparations for the second H3 launch in less than a year, working out measures to prevent any such failure through investigations into the cause of the incident mainly with partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

During last year’s launch, the second-stage engine of the first unit failed to ignite due to an electrical problem. The Earth observation satellite Daichi-3, which was on board, was also lost.