Posted on 06/18/2025 11:35:55 AM PDT by Red Badger
The prototype vehicle soared to an altitude of nearly 889 feet (271 meters) at Honda’s facility in Taiki Town, Japan, on June 17.
Launch and landing test of experimental reusable rocket. - Honda
Honda’s name has long been tied to innovation on the ground, and it is famous for its powerful engines and automobiles.
However, the company is now shifting gears, setting its sights on the competitive space domain. The Tokyo-based company has already made a bold move.
In a surprising announcement yesterday, Honda R&D Co., Ltd. – the research arm of Honda Motor Company – revealed it successfully launched and landed its experimental reusable rocket.
“This test marked the first launch and landing test conducted by Honda with an aim to demonstrate key technologies essential for rocket reusability, such as flight stability during ascent and descent, as well as landing capability,” the company’s announcement stated.
Test being conducted in Taiki Town in Hokkaido, Japan. Honda
Experimental rocket test
Honda developed the experimental reusable rocket on its own. The spacecraft is 20.6 feet (6.3 meters) in length, 85 centimeters (33.4 inches) in diameter, and has a dry weight of 900 kg (1984 pounds).
The prototype vehicle soared to an altitude of nearly 889 feet (271 meters) at Honda’s facility in Taiki Town, Japan, on June 17.
And then, in a display of precision engineering, it landed with accuracy, within just 37 centimeters of its target. The entire flight lasted a swift 56.6 seconds, providing invaluable data for future development.
So, why is this so significant? Reusability is the holy grail of cost-effective, frequent space travel flights.
This successful test is a massive step towards Honda’s ambitious goal of achieving suborbital spaceflight by 2029. A suborbital launch reaches the edge of space but doesn’t achieve orbit.
Before this, the car maker giant aims to demonstrate mastery over key elements like flight stability during both ascent and descent, and pinpoint landing capability.
“Although Honda rocket research is still in the fundamental research phase, and no decisions have been made regarding commercialization of these rocket technologies,” the press statement noted.
“Honda will continue making progress in the fundamental research with a technology development goal of realizing technological capability to enable a suborbital launch by 2029.”
Reusable rocket race
This isn’t a sudden leap into the unknown for Honda. The company first hinted at reusable rocket plans in 2021, and late last year, they even established a Space Development Division in the U.S. to foster collaboration.
However, the company had kept its spaceflight developments under wraps for years.
Honda is not the only player in this burgeoning field. Reportedly, Japan’s government is aggressively promoting its space industry, aiming to double its size to over $55 billion by the early 2030s through active subsidies to private companies.
This has ignited a commercial space race, attracting other major automotive players like Toyota, which aims to boost the mass production of launch vehicles.
Over the past decade, reusable launch vehicles, most notably SpaceX’s Falcon 9, have completely transformed commercial space missions.
This trend has also spurred development among U.S. competitors like Blue Origin, and companies in China and Europe are also pursuing reusable rocket designs. China tested a SpaceX-inspired rocket last year in the Gobi Desert.
Earlier, Interesting Engineering reported that a Japanese company also announced the development of a “winged reusable rocket.”
Adding to this global momentum, Tokyo-based startup Innovative Space Carrier recently announced plans to test a prototype reusable rocket in the United States in December, utilizing an American engine.
Meanwhile, Honda’s Global CEO Toshihiro Mibe believes that the company’s rocket research is a meaningful endeavor that “leverages Honda’s technological strengths.”
“Honda has made another step forward in our research on reusable rockets with this successful completion of a launch and landing test,” he said.
Yes, I had one.............
honda commercial “Things just work”
There is another company reaching similar heights. https://estesrockets.com/collections/rockets
One of my funnest projects was working on the Honda Jet. I wish I could have worked on this project.
Thanks for the tip.
Thanks - an I right though that this would be the 3rd company to do this? I don’t think the Chinese have done it yet though I know they’re working on their own.
Ah, the Big Bertha. “Slow, realistic lift-off”, or at least that was what Estes advertised. It never seemed to me like it was much slower than any of the others. At least, it wasn’t as “realistic” as my adolescent imagination was expecting.
My favorite was my Cherokee D. I flew that one many times, including once when a last second wind gust tipped the launchpad toward the neighbor’s roof just as it ignited. That was a nail-biter.
Honda eh.....
Every science fiction novel from the 40s and 50s predicted this type of rocket system, glad it’s finally here.
“My Big Bertha did too!...................“
My big Berha flew many missions. Occasionally, the parachute didn’t work. It became a beater, didn’t look that good up close. It had so much glue on and in it it took a C6 to get it to fly 500 feet up!
I LOVED my Element — I just needed more room and a better AWD system.
I would routinely get stuck in snow with it’s 6” under car clearance...With the Ridgeline the middle and rear differentials can be locked.
I saw an Element exiting a car wash yesterday, it was silver, and it looked BERY nice!
Best to you!
I wouldn't mind having a Ridgeline.
Everything Honda does, they do very well
Honda conducted a launch and landing test of an experimental reusable rocket on June 17, 2025. Credit: Honda R&D Co., Ltd., a research and development subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | edited by Space.com's [Steve Spaleta](https://x.com/stevespaleta)Honda launches and lands experimental reusable rocket in test | 2:38
VideoFromSpace | 2.02M subscribers | 381,502 views | June 18, 2025
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