Honda says it successfully tested a reusable rocket
Honda’s latest company leads him to new heights – literally.
The Japanese car manufacturer announced on Wednesday that it had successfully launched and won its own “reusable experimental rocket”. The company officials said that the booster about 21 feet high had reached an altitude of 890 feet before landing vertically.
The test flight also indicates that spatial operations around the world are developing in the commercial sector rather than being limited to a handful of government space agencies.
Honda has not yet revealed how she intended to market her rocket technologies or to which boosters could be used, but he said that research was part of Honda’s efforts in “sustainable transport”.
“We believe that rocket research is a significant company that takes advantage of Honda’s technological forces,” Toshihiro Mibea, Honda CEO, in a statement said.
The launch and landing of tests took place Tuesday in an Honda establishment in the city of Taika, in the Japanese prefecture Hokkaido. The flight lasted 56.6 seconds and the rocket tackled less than 15 inches from its targeted landing site, according to society.
Honda said it was then aimed at making a suborbital launch by 2029. Suborbital flights do not really enter orbit around the earth but rather reach the edge of space at an altitude of more than 65 miles.
Honda announced for the first time its foray into the space industry in 2021, but we do not know much about the types of projects in progress or their potential applications. The company said that the work was based on other Honda works, including work on automated driving systems.
“In the world of today, large amounts of data are consumed, with the growing expectation of greater use of a data system in space thanks to the extended use of satellites,” said business officials in a press release. “In light of this trend, the need for satellite launch rockets should also increase in the coming years.”
Reusable rockets are considered a way to make space launches more durable and profitable. The American company SpaceX remains at the forefront of the field, with its reusable Falcon 9 rocket. He also develops a new generation booster, known as Starship, which, according to him, will ultimately be fully reusable.
