is a Japanese

private spaceflight Private spaceflight is spaceflight or the development of spaceflight technology that is conducted and paid for by an entity other than a government agency. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet U ...

company aiming to eventually build a

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and syste ...

for

smallsat A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...

s under 100 kg. It is a rocket spacelaunch company

developing Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

the MOMO (also Momo, etc.) launcher. Interstellar's stated goal is to reduce the cost of access to space. In 2017, it became the first Japanese company to launch a privately-developed space rocket, though the launch was unsuccessful. A subsequent test in 2019 was successful at taking a 20 kg payload on a

suborbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...

trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete ...

to the edge of

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually con ...

. , the company planned to develop a rocket by 2020 that would be capable of launching small satellites into

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such a ...

. As of 2018, the president is

Takahiro Inagawa is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Takahiro can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *高広, "high, broad" *隆弘, "noble, vast" *隆宏, "noble, wide" *隆博, "noble, gain" *孝広, "filial piety, br ...

. As of June 2018, the company had raised about ¥30 million (about ) in crowdfunding.

History

The group that became Interstellar Technologies was created as a hobbyist organization in 1997. Interstellar Technologies predecessor company was established in 2003 by

Takafumi Horie is a Japanese entrepreneur who founded Livedoor, a website design operation that grew into a popular internet portal. After being arrested and charged with securities fraud in 2006, he severed all connections with the company. His trial began ...

, who previously founded the ISP

Livedoor was a Japanese company that functioned as an Internet service provider and operator of a web portal and blog platform before being brought down by a scandal in 2006. The company was founded and led in its first 10 years by Takafumi Horie, known ...

. It was established to develop rockets to launch small satellites. It became Interstellar Technologies in 2005 (some sources name the year 2013 as the founding year of Interstellar Technologies). Interstellar plans to lower the cost of access to space, and is attempting to have the first privately developed rocket in Japan to reach space. In March 2018, Interstellar entered into a business alliance with Nippon Travel Agency and Space Development Corp. In May 2018, Interstellar received an investment of ¥19.8 million from Kushiro Manufacturing.

Rockets

MOMO sounding rocket

The initial rocket the company is

is the MOMO

sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to ...

: * First launch: 30 July 2017 (failure) * First successful launch: 3 May 2019 (UTC) * Launch attempts: 7 (3 successful) * Height: * Diameter: * Mass: * Apogee: , capable of reaching the

Karman line Karman or Kármán is a Hungarian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Harvey Karman (20th century), inventor of the Karman cannula * Janice Karman (born 1954), American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice artist * ...

or the boundary of space. * Payload to

: * Engine: Custom Helium

Pressure-fed engine The pressure-fed engine is a class of rocket engine designs. A separate gas supply, usually helium, pressurizes the propellant tanks to force fuel and oxidizer to the combustion chamber. To maintain adequate flow, the tank pressures must exceed th ...

with 12 kilonewtons of thrust * Fuel: Ethanol with Liquid Oxygen (LOX) * Cost: ¥50 million (~$440 thousand)

MOMO v1

In response to the problems encountered in the engine nozzle and ignitor during the fifth launch and in the first attempt of the sixth launch (June and July 2020 respectively) Interstellar Technology began development of a full system upgrade. During a video conference on June 1, 2021 they announced the end of the upgrading process that focused on engine system, airframe equipment, avionics, and ground support equipment resulting in new nozzles, new ignitors, an increase in dry mass by 40 kg, in propellant mass by 30 kg, in length by 0.2 m and in thrust by 2 kN. Due to the heavy modifications performed the company started referring to the previous version of the rocket as MOMO v0, while the upgraded one is now being called MOMO v1.

MOMO flight testing

The

flight test Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing aircraft behaviour and systems. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. D ...

program began in mid-2017:

ZERO orbital rocket

The ZERO rocket concept is aimed at

orbital Orbital may refer to: Sciences Chemistry and physics * Atomic orbital * Molecular orbital * Hybrid orbital Astronomy and space flight * Orbit ** Earth orbit Medicine and physiology * Orbit (anatomy), also known as the ''orbital bone'' * Orbito ...

launches of

s. * First launch: 2023 (estimated) * Payload to

Sun-Synchronous Orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it ...

: *Fuel: Liquid methane (

Liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the v ...

, LNG)

Facilities

* Launch site: Taiki Aerospace Research Field, Taiki, Hokkaido, Japan.

References

External links

* Official website
インターステラテクノロジズ株式会社 - Interstellar Technologies Inc.
**
インターステラテクノロジズ株式会社 - Interstellar Technologies Inc.
* Interstellar Technologies {{Japanese launch systems Space program of Japan Commercial spaceflight Private spaceflight companies Technology companies established in 2005 Aerospace companies of Japan