Mission revised from 2024 to 2026 due to technical problems
Space station module illustration. (pixabay.com/WikiImages)
Jakarta, IDN Times – Japan is considering postponing the world’s first Mars lunar surface sampling mission. The mission will be revised from what was planned for 2024, to be postponed until 2026.
This was due to a problem with its new flagship H3 rocket, which is designed to facilitate the launch of the vehicle, said a source related to the matter on Sunday (3/12/2023), reported Kyodo News.
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1. The first launch of the H3 rocket failed
It was reported that this development came after the failed maiden launch of Japan’s new generation H3 rocket in March. This was caused by the second stage engine not firing, after launch at the Tanegashima Space Center.
The result was the loss of the main satellite it carried as its payload. The rocket was developed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) together with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
JAXA has an ambitious mission to travel to Mars and survey the red planet’s two moons, Phobos and Deimos. The project will take a spacecraft to explore both moons and collect samples from Phobos to bring back to Earth.
This mission is called Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), which is planned to be launched next year, and will reach Mars in 2025. This mission is predicted to be the first mission to bring lunar samples from another planet to Earth in 2029.
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2. Interrelated instruments, between the failure of the previous rocket launch and the next plan
Portrait of the H3 rocket belonging to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). (doc. JAXA official page/global.jaxa.jp)
The second H3 rocket, equipped with measures to prevent a repeat of a similar incident, will be launched in March 2024. However, its payload has been modified as a precaution.
Meanwhile, the mission to carry the MMX spacecraft and a third or later H3 rocket satellite will depend on the success of the second rocket launch.
The Japanese government has considered using a reliable rocket from the United States (US) company, SpaceX, rather than the H3 to launch the MMX vehicle. However, even this option will not meet the 2024 deadline.
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2023-12-04 16:44:00
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