Japan and India successfully complete launches
Japan and India today completed launches of different rockets, one on its first successful test launch.
First, early this morning Japan’s new H3 rocket successfully reached orbit for the first time, on its second attempt. The first attempt had problems, first with a launch abort at T-0 when the solid-fueled strap-on boosters failed to ignite. On the launch attempt the upper stage failed. Today’s launch was a complete success, placing a dummy payload into orbit.
Japan’s space agency JAXA however needs to learn how to run a launch in a professional manner. Minutes prior to launch an announcer began a second-by-second countdown, and continued this for minutes after the launch. Not only was this unnecessary and annoying, it made the real updates impossible to hear. India used to do this in its first few live streams, but quickly recognized the stupidity of it. In addition, the person translating the updates clearly knew nothing about rocket launches, so her translations were tentative and often completely misunderstood what had just happened.
All of this makes JAXA look like a second rate organization, which might also help explain its numerous technical failures in recent years.
About twelve hours later, at mid-day in India, India’s space agency ISRO successfully launched its GSLV rocket, placing a commercial radar environmental satellite into orbit.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
15 SpaceX
8 China
2 Iran
2 Russia
2 Japan
2 India
American private enterprise still leads the entire world combined in successful launches 17 to 16, with SpaceX trailing the entire world combined (excluding American companies) 15 to 16.
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In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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Japan and India today completed launches of different rockets, one on its first successful test launch.
First, early this morning Japan’s new H3 rocket successfully reached orbit for the first time, on its second attempt. The first attempt had problems, first with a launch abort at T-0 when the solid-fueled strap-on boosters failed to ignite. On the launch attempt the upper stage failed. Today’s launch was a complete success, placing a dummy payload into orbit.
Japan’s space agency JAXA however needs to learn how to run a launch in a professional manner. Minutes prior to launch an announcer began a second-by-second countdown, and continued this for minutes after the launch. Not only was this unnecessary and annoying, it made the real updates impossible to hear. India used to do this in its first few live streams, but quickly recognized the stupidity of it. In addition, the person translating the updates clearly knew nothing about rocket launches, so her translations were tentative and often completely misunderstood what had just happened.
All of this makes JAXA look like a second rate organization, which might also help explain its numerous technical failures in recent years.
About twelve hours later, at mid-day in India, India’s space agency ISRO successfully launched its GSLV rocket, placing a commercial radar environmental satellite into orbit.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
15 SpaceX
8 China
2 Iran
2 Russia
2 Japan
2 India
American private enterprise still leads the entire world combined in successful launches 17 to 16, with SpaceX trailing the entire world combined (excluding American companies) 15 to 16.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Another take on a Falcon launch
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/attachments/funny-kind-wholesome-memes-6-65ce2f34505a9__700-jpg.720214/
Robert,
As I understand it from reading JAXA news releases, the dummy payload was simulated released and remained attached to the upper stage of the H3 stack. After the simulation, the upper stage was flipped over and a brief orbit decay burn was made causing the upper stage and the dummy payload to re-enter over water. Prior to the dummy payload release, to micro sats (TIRSAT and CE-SAT-1E) were successfully released in orbit.
I kinda found the nonstop countdown endearing…
But the real problem is whether the H3 is enough improvement over the H2-A to be remotely competitive. It’s $90 million per launch, and they’ll be lucky to launch it half a dozen times a year when it gets going. This makes even Ariane 6 look ambitious.
All that said, congrats to MHI and JAXA on a successful launch.
Well, there I was on the Rocket Lab YouTube page, A countdown was indicating a Monday launch. I switched to my Sunday morning habit of reading comics, Then the music on the Rocket Lab YouTube page changed. The launch was actually happening and has just been reported by Rocket Lab as a successful mission.
I have said previously, that there will soon be, if not already, a broadcast journalism sub-specialty for space activity, including launches.
International date line is probably the problem – comparing reported time from the source in NZ against locally generated current time – oopsie!