Honda bets on reusable rockets to power its next frontier

Automaker's ambition is to make space a core business, but big challenges remain

20250626 Honda

Honda's experimental rocket blasts off vertically into the sky in a critical test in Taiki, a town on the Pacific coast of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, on the evening on June 17. (Photo by Honda/Kyodo)

SHOYA OKINAGA, MASASHI IZAWA and DAI KUWAMURA

TOKYO -- Honda Motor has moved closer to its goal of suborbital space flight by 2029, after the Japanese car company successfully launched and landed its reusable small rocket.

The 6.3-meter prototype reached an altitude of 300 meters before descending and landing close to its target, during the test that took place in Taiki, a town on the Pacific coast of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, on June 17.

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