Mint Quick Edit | Honda’s liftoff success: Yes, the Japanese car-maker is headed for space
The Japanese carmaker surprised the world with a successful test of a reusable rocket, a field pioneered by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. As competition stirs in this arena, will India see action too?
SpaceX’s famous reusable space rockets may soon get competition from a surprise source: Honda. Earlier this week, the Japanese automaker reportedly test-launched an experimental space rocket that can be reused.
The six metre-plus rocket, weighing about 900kg—about as much as a small car—went up nearly 300 metres before returning. Sure, that isn’t too high for a vehicle designed for space. But a critical element of such flights is not just to lift off smoothly, but also to return safely.
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As reported, Honda’s rocket made a precise landing, which has given its space ambitions a boost. In 2021, the company had said it was studying space technologies, but kept quiet after that.
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With its latest success, it’s aiming for suborbital space missions by 2029. Reusable rockets vastly reduce the cost of space operations. So far, SpaceX has had all the glory in this field, though others have been raring to make their own breakthroughs.
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Honda’s car-market rival Toyota is eyeing reusable rockets too. Why Japanese carmakers have caught this bug isn’t entirely clear, but we can expect this race to heat up. With India’s space sector open to private players, maybe we’ll see action here as well.
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