Honda, the renowned automotive giant, has made an unexpected entry into the burgeoning private space race, successfully launching and landing an experimental reusable rocket.
The test, announced this week, instantly positions the Japanese corporation as a new contender in a field long dominated by private spaceflight companies like SpaceX. This bold move signals Honda’s serious ambitions beyond terrestrial vehicles and towards the cosmos.
On Tuesday, June 17, 2025, Honda’s research and development arm conducted the pivotal test at its facility in Taiki, Hokkaido, Japan. The experimental reusable launch vehicle (RLV), standing 6.3 meters tall, ascended to an altitude of approximately 271.4 meters, or nearly 900 feet, before executing a precise vertical landing within 37 centimeters of its target.
The entire flight sequence, demonstrating crucial technologies for flight stability during ascent and descent, along with pinpoint landing capabilities, lasted a mere 56.6 seconds. This achievement immediately places Honda in an exclusive group of entities, alongside SpaceX and Blue Origin, that have successfully flown reusable rocket hoppers.
Honda’s foray into rocketry is not a recent whim. The company began its fundamental research into space technologies in 2021, driven by a vision to leverage its core expertise in combustion and control systems. Its long-term goal is to achieve suborbital flight by 2029. The automaker anticipates using its proprietary rockets to deploy Earth observation satellites for climate monitoring and severe weather tracking, as well as to establish satellite constellations for extensive communication coverage.
Honda specifically highlighted the vital role satellite communications could play in enabling advanced connected functionalities across its automotive and aeronautical products.
While Honda’s prototype is significantly more compact than the larger boosters used by SpaceX for its vertical landing demonstrations, the success marks a critical step towards developing a functional launch vehicle. SpaceX’s Falcon 9, for instance, is a much larger rocket that has completed over 500 missions, including the deployment of thousands of Starlink satellites, showcasing its mature capabilities in the orbital launch market.
Honda’s current endeavor is still in its fundamental research phase, and no commercialization decisions have been finalized. However, the company has expressed its commitment to continued progress, even establishing a dedicated space development department in the U.S. in 2024 to foster collaborations.
The successful test underscores the increasing global demand for satellite launch capabilities and the growing emphasis on reusability to reduce spaceflight costs. Honda’s entry into this high-stakes domain could introduce a significant new player, potentially reshaping the competitive landscape of the space industry in the years to come.
While it has a considerable journey ahead to match the operational scale of incumbents like SpaceX, Honda’s proven engineering prowess and surprising agility make it a formidable new force to watch.
