Japan has Postponed the Launch of its 47th Rocket H-IIA Due to High-Altitude Winds
Japan Postpones H-IIA Rocket Launch Carrying Lunar Spacecraft Due to Strong Winds || Uncertain New Launch Date Anticipated
Image Source: The Week
In a recent development, Japan’s space agency has been forced to postpone the launch of its 47th H-IIA rocket, which was meant to carry Japan’s inaugural Lunar spacecraft. Mitsubishi Heavy Industry (MHI), the operator responsible for the launch, cited strong winds in the upper atmosphere as the reason for the delay. Despite the H-IIA spacecraft’s impressive track record of a 98% launch success rate, the decision to suspend the launch was made just 27 minutes before the originally planned liftoff.
MHI H-IIA launch unit chief, Tatsuru Tokunaga, explained, “We had to hold off on the launch due to the high-altitude winds, a precautionary measure we take to ensure debris won’t pose a risk outside the designated safety zones.”
Michi Kawakami, the safety manager at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), noted that strong winds reaching speeds of approximately 108 kph (67 mph) were detected at altitudes ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 meters (16,400 to 49,200 feet). Kawakami further added that the presence of multiple typhoons in the vicinity of Japan might have contributed to these severe wind conditions.
The updated launch date remains unknown, with no earlier option than Thursday due to essential procedures like refueling, according to Tatsuru Tokunaga. MHI and JAXA have indicated that the launch may occur as late as September 15.
Originally planned to launch from JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on Monday morning, this launch had already experienced two prior postponements in the past week due to adverse weather conditions. It will signify Japan’s 47th launch of the H-IIA rocket.
The mission of ‘The Lunar Precision’
The rocket is transporting JAXA’s Smart Lander for Moon Exploration (SLIM), a Japanese Spacecraft set to make the nation’s inaugural lunar landing. Notably, Tokyo-based startup ispace’s Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander met with an unfortunate crash on the Moon’s surface back in April.
Following Monday’s launch, JAXA had scheduled SLIM’s moon landing from orbit for January-February 2024, with aspirations to follow the success of India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar exploration mission, which is currently underway this month.
The SLIM mission is on a quest to achieve an extraordinary feat – a high-precision lunar landing within a mere 100 meters of its designated target on the Moon’s surface. This represents a remarkable technical jump beyond normal lunar landing accuracy, which often spans several kilometers, as highlighted by JAXA.
In addition to lunar delivery, the rocket is also transporting the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) satellite, a collaboration between JAXA, NASA, and the European Space Agency.
H-IIA, co-developed by JAXA and MHI, has been Japan’s premier satellite launching spacecraft since 2001, with 45 successful missions in 46 attempts. However, following the failure of JAXA’s new medium-lift H3 rocket during its first flight in March, the Japanese aerospace company delayed the planned launch of H-IIA No. 47 for many months to study the reason for the failure.
Although its ambition of landing humans on the moon in the late 2020s, Japan’s space mission has recently suffered setbacks, including the failure of the Epsilon small rocket in October 2022 and a combustion accident following an experiment this past month.
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