Japan tests reusable rocket: Jaxa completes first RV-X test flight

Short flight with a signal effect

Jaxa released a photograph showing the RV-X prototype ascending at the Noshiro Rocket Testing Center in Akita Prefecture. The photo was taken on July 11, 2026 and distributed by the news agency AFP as a handout photo to clients, with a note indicating it was for editorial use only, with mandatory credit „AFP PHOTO / Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)".

Takashi Ito, the Jaxa official responsible for the test, expressed relief. He told the Japan Times verbatim: „Ich habe das Gefühl, dass wir viel Zeit und Mühe in dieses Projekt gesteckt haben, und nun, da der Prototyp problemlos gestartet und gelandet ist, muss ich sagen, dass ich sehr erleichtert bin". Ito also expressed confidence that useful data was collected during the trial. This data is now to be analyzed to assess whether and to what extent the test can be classified as a success.

People's Republic of China achieves its own success

The Japanese test took place one day after a successful Chinese rocket test. As the Chinese space agency CNSA announced, a rocket stage of a reusable rocket was returned to Earth after a complete launch for the first time in China. According to CNSA, this involved a Long March 10B rocket, which placed a satellite into Earth orbit. The first rocket stage, which is needed for launch and then discarded, was subsequently recovered on a floating platform at sea.

The intensified efforts in Asia are set against the backdrop of the race for cheaper transportation into space. The reusability of large rocket components is considered key to significantly reducing the costs of payload transport into space, according to media reports.

Race for affordable transportation into space

With the program, Japan is pursuing the goal of catching up with US companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, which have already been working with reusable rockets in this field for some time. Blue Origin has also been carrying out launches and landings of reusable rockets for years, according to the company. In June 2025, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Honda had already successfully conducted an initial launch and landing test with a reusable rocket in Japan.

The step is internationally regarded as progress in a technology for cost reduction previously dominated by SpaceX. According to further media reports, research institutes from Germany and France are also involved in the developments.

How the Japanese success will be specifically assessed in the coming weeks depends on the data analysis still pending. If the findings are positive, the RV-X is likely to be considered another example of the standards once set by SpaceX for reusable systems being adopted internationally.