Honda says growing expectations of a “data system in outer space” are going to increase the demand for rockets to launch satellites. So, the Japanese automaker quietly built one and tested it successfully.
Japan’s second-largest carmaker, Honda, has successfully tested an experimental reusable space rocket on the nothern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the company said in a surprise announcement.
“The test was completed successfully, the first time Honda landed a rocket after reaching an altitude of nearly 300 meters (1,000 feet),” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The carmaker aims to achieve suborbital space flight in 2029. In 2021, Honda said it was studying space technologies such as reusable rockets but made no announcements prior to Tuesday’s test
Now that’s a diversification I didn’t see coming. Not bad.
Time to invest in Honda.
Maybe they’re gonna go full Yamaha.
Can’t wait to play a Honda Tenor Saxophone.
“OK, so, I want a Honda Civic, but for up and down instead of forwards and backwards.”
Unironically, yes.
If Honda can make a rocket as reliable and cheap as a Civic, relatively, we all win.
Technically, orbit is just forward, really, really fast. “Up” is incidental to the process.
Honda landing rockets, VW getting fully automated vans to drive safely on roads, xAI burning through 1b monthly. Not a good time to be a musk, I guess.
He has so much money he could lose a billion dollars every month and still have billions left in 2055.
About time. Took the market long enough. Bloody hell, it’s like capitalism literally handed Musk this business on a golden platter.
Just wait until they add VTEC to it
The aftermarket spoiler market for these will be huge.
Was that a sonic boom? Nah, rev limiter!
Could have been the blowoff valve for the turbo! Or a shitty muffler delete on a nearby Infiniti
I expect we’ll see SpaceX rockets with VTEC stickers trying to masquerade as performance rockets.
This must terrify Musk and his SpaceX
It pleases me.
I don’t believe they have even hit space yet, the test was only from 1000 ft.
Still, cool as hell.
Wait. This is just more commodification of space.
Fuck that. And I will be against it until we figure out our fucking shit down here on the ground.
I doubt that. Spacex is miles ahead of the rest and they have bigger plans.
Sure they would rather have a monopoly on cheap rockets for as long as possible but they have always known people would be trying to catch them up
Yes, but Honda also builds nice things. They’re not the neighbors you want moving in next door if your business is making reliable and precise things cheaply.
Maybe it doesn’t matter because SpaceX just lies on all their bids anyways
rivaling their … 8 year old technology
not a fan of musk but spacex seriously leapfrogged everyone in the 2010s
Oh no their very first prototype test didn’t catch up and surpass everything. Guess they’re doomed. Better give up and stop trying.
where the fuck did i ever say that
I love that space travel is becoming so democratized now.
It shouldn’t just be governments, it shouldn’t just be private companies, it should be anyone with the wherewithal to figure the technology out.
If your idea of ‘democratized’ is ‘now giant megacorps have comparable capital and assets to entire nation states’…
You have a very, very silly understanding of democracy.
Please explain to me how a giant mega corp is… democratic in nature.
You are describing cyberpunk style, hypercorporate techno-feudalism as democracy.
Democracy is one person, one vote.
Corporate governance structures can basically be boiled down to: one dollar, one vote, ie, oligarchy.
Yeah. Most of humanity has been propagandised into believing that corporations, which are run like dictatorships where < 1% are the majority shareholders who control the operation, are actually equivalent to “freedom” and “democracy”.
Clown world.
