Honda says growing expectations of a “data system in outer space” are going to increase the demand for rockets to launch satellites. So, the Japanese automaker quietly built one and tested it successfully.
Japan’s second-largest carmaker, Honda, has successfully tested an experimental reusable space rocket on the nothern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the company said in a surprise announcement.
“The test was completed successfully, the first time Honda landed a rocket after reaching an altitude of nearly 300 meters (1,000 feet),” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The carmaker aims to achieve suborbital space flight in 2029. In 2021, Honda said it was studying space technologies such as reusable rockets but made no announcements prior to Tuesday’s test
With the small detail that failures in your backyard are in general much less catastrophic compared to mishaps in space
That’s why the launching areas are typically huge areals where not many people live. On top of that, rockets are typically launched eastwards (due to earth’s rotation) and in coastal areas, so they fly the first few minutes over the ocean. Should something blow up, it does so over the sea, where it doesn’t matter too much.