Private launch companies looking to lower the coast of space access continue to develop new vehicles, and the last to attempt a space trip is Interstellar Technologies (IST), a Japanese private launch company founded in 2003. The company launched a vehicle for the first time in 2017, but the launch did not go exactly as planned and did not reach space - in 2019, its MOMO-3 sounding rocket broke the Karman line, but hardly, and unfortunately its rocket probe MOMO-5 launched today did not make space as planned, undergoing rather a kind of dysfunction and a loss of control by the time it reaches Q max, or the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure before leaving the Earth's atmosphere.
MOMO-5 took off at 8:15 p.m. UTC (4:15 p.m. EDT) and the takeoff appeared to proceed smoothly. This demo launch was supposed to build on IST's existing development program and bring it closer to establishing a new affordable rocket option to return small payloads to orbit using a small rocket affordable that the company describes as a "family sedan for the stars". "
The IST approach is interesting because it does not pretend to be at the cutting edge; instead, the company says it is focusing on exploiting the "legacy methods" of the rocket, as well as advancements such as additive manufacturing and more modern materials to cut costs as much as possible and lower the bar in terms of affordability to serve a wide range of customers. To some extent, this is similar to the approach taken by SpaceX and Rocket Lab, but IST's approach is even less modernization-oriented and more efficiency-oriented than some of its operational competitors, which could theoretically give it a cost advantage once it starts to serve businesses with regular commercial launches.
MOMO-5 was launched from Hokkaido, Japan, as part of a rescheduled mission from late 2019 and earlier this year due to a number of delays, including COVID-19 and the holidays of May observed in the country. MOMO-5 is just over 30 feet tall and weighs around 2,200 pounds, making it smaller than that of Rocket Lab Electron.
We are awaiting the official word from IST on what did not work with today's launch, and will provide more information as it becomes available.
