Japan rocket launch gives crucial lift to private space business

Epsilon-4 vehicle provides less costly tech to show future customers

The Epsilon-4 rocket takes off from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, in southern Japan. (Photo by Masamichi Hoshi)

MASAMICHI HOSHI, RYOTARO YAMADA and SAYUKA NAKAJIMA, Nikkei staff writers

January 19, 2019 06:57 JST

TOKYO -- Japan's successful liftoff of a more price-competitive rocket Friday carries the country into a new stage of private-sector space development, an industry that has remained mostly grounded due to prohibitive costs.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, launched the solid-fuel Epsilon-4 from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The vehicle carried seven miniature satellites, which all released from the rocket within 70 minutes after the morning liftoff.