Japan launches H3 rocket a year after failed first flight

Second straight win, after Moon landing in January, puts space programme back on track

Japan successfully launched its new H3 flagship rocket on Feb 17, putting its space programme back on track after multiple setbacks, including the failure of the rocket's inaugural flight in 2023.

The launch also marks a second straight win for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) after its Moon lander, Slim, achieved a "pinpoint" touchdown in January and made Japan only the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the Moon.

A relatively small player in space by number of launches, Japan is seeking to revitalise its programme as it partners with ally the United States to counter China.

The H3 lifted off at 9.22am (8.22am Singapore time) and after it successfully released a small satellite, jubilant scientists at the Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Japan clapped, yelled and hugged one another.

The rocket also released a microsatellite and a dummy satellite during its flight of nearly two hours.

"The newborn H3 has just made its first cry," Jaxa project manager Masashi Okada, who has led the decade-long development of the new rocket, told a news conference.