Two days after an initial liftoff that was postponed due to a poor weather forecast at the launch site in southwest Japan, Japan's space agency announced that its new flagship H3 rocket will conduct a second test flight on Saturday.
The Tanegashima Space Center predicted thunder and strong wind, so the liftoff, which was originally scheduled for Thursday, was postponed.
The H3 rocket will attempt a test flight on Saturday, with an alternate launch window available through the end of March, according to a statement released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, on Wednesday.
For over ten years, JAXA has been working on H3, a replacement for H-2A, its current mainstay, which is scheduled to retire after just two more flights.
The forthcoming launch is being keenly watched as a test of Japan's space progress after the H3 rocket failed in its inaugural flight last March, destroying both the rocket and its payload, the advanced land observation satellite, or ALOS-3. This time around, the rocket will carry a model of the ALOS satellite, known as VEP-4.
According to JAXA, the major purpose of the mission's second test flight is to guide the rocket into the proper trajectory. The organization also intends to launch two observation microsatellites into orbit.
To remain competitive in the global market, H3 is built to carry heavier payloads than H-2A at significantly lower costs.
Expectations are high following a recent string of successes. JAXA performed a historic precision lunar landing last month with its spacecraft launched from the H-2A rocket, just days after the 48th H-2A rocket successfully placed a spy satellite into its scheduled orbit.
