According to Kyodo News, on July 11 local time, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that the prototype recoverable rocket RV-X had successfully completed a test flight. The rocket reached a maximum altitude of about 11 meters, hover for about 16 meters, and then landed at the designated location.
On that day, a test flight of the RV-X rocket was conducted at the Niigata Rocket Test Center of JAXA in Niigata Prefecture. The total flight duration was approximately 40 seconds. This test flight was originally scheduled to take place in March this year, but it was postponed due to bad weather and equipment failures.
Project manager Ito Ryu stated online at a press conference: “We have dedicated significant time and effort to this project. The flight trial has been completed successfully throughout, and we are relieved.”
The RV-X is approximately 7.3 meters in length and has a diameter of about 1.8 meters. It is equipped with engines that use liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. It has four landing gear legs. The test flight aims to collect data for the development of reusable rockets.
Since 2016, JAXA has been developing the RV-X. As of last year, multiple rounds of engine combustion tests have been completed. According to JAXA, the goal of this project is to make low-cost reusable rockets commercially available by the early 2030s, thereby replacing the H3 rocket as JAXA's primary carrier vehicle.
The Japanese side announced a policy goal of reducing the cost of space launches to one-tenth of that of H3 rockets by the early 2040s. Reusable rockets are key to achieving this goal.
