Japan's experimental reusable rocket successfully lifted off and landed in a first test flight Saturday, as the country seeks to master the technology key to cutting launch costs and competing in the global space market dominated by SpaceX. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
The RV-X rocket lifted off, hovered, moved horizontally, and then landed during its less than one-minute flight at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Noshiro Testing Center in northeastern Japan, which was livestreamed by the NVS, a group of space fans.
JAXA is expected to explain the results in an online briefing later Saturday.
Japan seeks to catch up with the technology Elon Musk's SpaceX has been using for several years to cut launch costs of delivering payloads into space.
Saturday's flight is a step forward for Japan in achieving the technology needed to develop a lower cost successor to the country's current mainstay, single-use H3 series.
The flight comes one day after state media in China reported the country achieved its first successful recovery of the first stage of a rocket after a liftoff.
Japan's H3 rocket is designed to be more cost effective than its predecessor H-2A series, but still needs further cost cuts to compete in the global space market.
The Japanese government says a stable, commercially competitive transport capability is key to the country's space program and national security.
JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have been co-developing the RV-X, which is 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) in diameter and 7.3 meters (23.9 feet) long and equipped with engines with enhanced durability and four shock-absorption landing gear.
JAXA, which is jointly developing reusable rockets with France and Germany, plans to send the RV-X rocket to a higher altitude of about 100 meters (218 feet) in future test flights.