With companies like SpaceX launching rockets seemingly every other day, you might think that sending massive vehicles into space has become as easy as baking a cake.
But as two rocket failures on December 22nd show, the launch process remains complex.
The first of this week’s two failures occurred when the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZS-5) aboard its H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center about 620 miles southwest of Tokyo.
The first part of the rocket’s flight looked good, but the second burn of the second stage engine did not start normally and shut down prematurely, JAXA later said. As a result, QZS-5 was unable to reach its intended orbit, resulting in mission failure.
JAXA is now investigating exactly what went wrong so that the problem can be corrected for the next flight.
The launch was the eighth H3 flight overall, but resulted in the second consecutive problem with the rocket, resulting in ongoing technical challenges for the H3 program.
The second mishap affected the Hanbit nano rocket of the South Korean space company Innospace’s Spaceward mission.
The rocket was launched from the Alcântara Space Center in Brazil and was South Korea’s first commercial orbit attempt.
But a short time after launch, around the time the rocket reached Max Q (the moment when it begins to experience the most aerodynamic loading), the video feed briefly showed a bright orange glow before going out. No, that’s never a good sign.
The payload included five small satellites from Brazil, India and South Korea for technology development, education and environmental data collection.
The mission had already experienced several delays through July caused by problems with the rocket’s avionics and also an electric pump.
The disappointing failures demonstrate the technological precision required for a successful rocket launch, with a relatively small anomaly potentially leading to an abrupt end to a mission.
There was a time when SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 failed, but over time the company updated its launch and landing systems. With more work and the right engineers, the Japanese and Korean rockets should also find a path to greater reliability.
