Firefly Aerospace is exploring the option of launching its Alpha rocket from Japan, as the American rocket maker expands its satellite launch services around the world, the Japanese company announced on Monday, which operates a spaceport in the north of Hokkaido.
The plan could make Japan the second sea launch site – and the first in Asia – for the Firefly, of the Texas competitor of market leader Elon Musk SpaceX, which debuted on Nasdaq earlier this month and is preparing to launch Alpha in Sweden. Space Cotan company, operator at Hokkaido spaceport, located approximately for 820 km northeast of Tokyo, She said, that she and Firefly had signed a preliminary agreement to explore the possibility of launching low-yield Alpha missiles from there.
Launching Alpha from Japan "will allow us to serve the larger satellite industry in Asia and increase the resilience of US allies with a proven orbital launch vehicle", - said Adam Oakes, Firefly's vice president of launches, published on the Space Cotan website. According to Space Cotan spokesman Ryota Ito, technical and economic substantiation and assessment of regulatory obstacles will be carried out, time frame and investments of Alpha's launch pad in Hokkaido.
This plan would require the conclusion of an agreement on guarantees for the use of space technology (TSA) between Washington and Tokyo, which will allow American missile launches in Japan, Ito added. The governments started negotiations last year, but did not reach an agreement. US-Sweden lane agreement signed in June clears way for Firefly launches from Arctic.
Four of the six Firefly Alpha flights with 2021 year ended in failure, the last of which was in April. Although Japan's national space agency has been launching rockets for decades, private rockets are in their infancy, and most Japanese satellite operators rely on foreign options, such as Falcon 9 from SpaceX or Electron from Rocket Lab.
Previously, the American company Virgin Orbit planned to use Oita Airport in southwestern Japan for launches, but this plan was canceled after the bankruptcy of the firm 2023 year. Colorado-based Sierra Space has a current plan to land its space plane on Oita after 2027 year. Last month, the Taiwanese firm TiSpace carried out a project in Hokkaido, which could be the first foreign launch, but the suborbital flight failed within a minute.
The Japanese government plans to implement 30 launches of Japanese missiles per year until the early 2030s and subsidizes domestic enterprises, such as Space One and Interstellar Technologies, supported by Toyota.
Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp