Ｈ３ロケット、２度目の延期　エンジンに新たな不具合―ＪＡＸＡ

　宇宙航空研究開発機構（ＪＡＸＡ）は２１日、開発中の新型ロケット「Ｈ３」について、主エンジン「ＬＥ―９」に新たな不具合が見つかったとして、予定していた今年度内の初号機打ち上げを延期すると発表した。延期は２度目で、新たな打ち上げ時期は未定。
　ＪＡＸＡの山川宏理事長は「２度目の打ち上げ延期となり、大変重く受け止めている。確実に打ち上げるため、やむなく年度内の打ち上げを見合わせた」と述べた。
　Ｈ３ロケットはＪＡＸＡと三菱重工業が開発し、当初は２０２０年度中に初の打ち上げを予定していた。しかし、２０年５月の燃焼試験でエンジンに燃料を送り込むポンプのタービン羽根に金属疲労によるひびが見つかり、１年延期されていた。（2022/01/21-18:40）

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Friday that it will put off the launch of the first model of the new H-3 rocket under development, after a problem was newly found with its main engine.
   JAXA was to launch the rocket by the March 31 end of fiscal 2021. It has yet to decide a new launch date.
   "This is the second launch postponement, so we take it very seriously," JAXA President Horoshi Yamakawa said in a statement. "To ensure a successful launch, we had no choice but to put off any launch in the current fiscal year," he said.
   The first model of the H-3 rocket, being developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. , was initially to be launched by the end of fiscal 2020.
   The debut launch was first postponed by one year after cracks stemming from metal fatigue were found in the turbine blades of the pump that sends fuel to the engine, during a combustion test in May 2020.