北海道ほっかいどう 台湾たいわん製せいロケット打ち上うちあげも飛行ひこう停止ていし 映像えいぞうでは落下らっかを確認かくにん

At the spaceport in Taiki Town, Hokkaido, a Taiwanese-made rocket was launched on the 12th, but according to local announcements, the rocket did not reach the planned altitude of 100 kilometers and its flight was halted.

The rocket launched from the spaceport in Taiki Town, Hokkaido, was a two-stage rocket, 12 meters in length, manufactured by a Taiwanese company.

The rocket was launched at around 11:40 a.m. on the 12th, but according to local announcements, the rocket did not reach the planned altitude of 100 kilometers and its flight was terminated.

In the footage filmed by NHK, it was confirmed that the rocket was spinning as it fell.

This launch was carried out by a foreign-affiliated company that belongs to the same group as the Taiwanese manufacturer that produced the rocket.

This time, the rocket is a hybrid type. The rocket being launched, developed by a Taiwanese manufacturer, is 12 meters long, 60 centimeters in diameter, and weighs 1...

Its a two-stage 4-ton model.

According to the manufacturer, the main purpose of the launch is to check the rocket engines performance and other factors.

The engine is a hybrid type that combines solid fuel with a liquid oxidizer, which is said to have a lower risk of explosions and other dangers, and can also keep manufacturing costs down.

The rocket will be launched without carrying an artificial satellite, aiming to reach outer space at an altitude of over 100 kilometers, and is ultimately planned to fall into the Pacific Ocean.

Why launch in Hokkaido? Taiki Town in Hokkaido is located on the coast facing the Pacific Ocean, so the sea stretches out to the east and south, the directions in which rockets are launched. For safety and other reasons, it is considered an advantageous location for developing a launch site.

From this background, four years ago in 2021, the town and the private sector jointly established a company to manage the spaceport and have been working to develop a private rocket launch site.

In response to the growing demand for rocket launches, the government is also supporting the development of launch sites, and it has been decided that up to 10.5 billion yen in funding will be provided from a national fund to the Taiki Town spaceport.

This time, the company launching a rocket manufactured by a Taiwanese maker from this spaceport is a foreign-affiliated company based in Hokkaido that belongs to the same group.

According to the representative of this foreign company, one of the reasons they chose to launch in Hokkaido is its convenient location, being geographically close to Taiwan.

According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and other sources, it appears to be the first time that a foreign-affiliated company has launched a rocket in Japan.

In Taiki Town, there are growing expectations that this launch will serve as an opportunity to attract demand for rocket launches by overseas companies to Japan.

Yoshinori Odagiri, president of Space Kotan, the company that manages the spaceport, said, In order to make the spaceport commercially successful, it will be important to attract demand not only from Japan but also from overseas. This launch will be a good opportunity to let the world know about this spaceport.