初号機打ち上げ、２１年度に延期　Ｈ３ロケット、エンジンに不具合―ＪＡＸＡ

　宇宙航空研究開発機構（ＪＡＸＡ）は１１日、開発中の新型ロケット「Ｈ３」について、主エンジンに不具合が見つかったとして、今年度中に予定していた初号機の打ち上げを２０２１年度に延期すると発表した。
　ＪＡＸＡによると、不具合が見つかったのは液体水素と液体酸素を推進剤に用いる新開発の主エンジン「ＬＥ―９」。今年５月に鹿児島県・種子島宇宙センターで実施した燃焼試験後の内部点検で、エンジンの燃焼室内壁に最大で幅０．５ミリ、長さ１センチの穴が１４カ所見つかった。また、燃焼室に液体水素を送り込むポンプのタービン羽根２枚にひびも見つかった。（2020/09/11-16:02）

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Friday that it will postpone the launch until fiscal 2021 of the new H-3 rocket, which is currently under development, due to problems with its main engine.
   The H-3 rocket launch was initially scheduled for fiscal 2020, which will end next March.
   The new rocket, the successor to the existing H-2A and H-2B rockets, has been jointly developed by JAXA, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and others since fiscal 2014, with development costs totaling 190 billion yen.
   The H-3 rocket will be equipped with two or three LE-9 first-stage engines. In May, 14 holes of up to 0.5 millimeter wide and 1 centimeter long were found on the inner walls of the newly developed engine's firing chamber after a firing test at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
   Furthermore, there were cracks in two turbine blades of a device that pumps liquefied hydrogen into the firing chamber.