Honda recently made a significant stride toward becoming a major player in the aerospace industry. On Tuesday, the automaker revealed that it had successfully launched and landed an experimental rocket. This is Honda’s first ever rocket landing, marking a departure from the company’s primary expertise.

“Although Honda rocket research is still in the fundamental research phase, and no decisions have been made regarding commercialization of these rocket technologies, Honda will continue making progress in the fundamental research with a technology development goal of realizing technological capability to enable a suborbital launch by 2029,” Honda’s press release said.

For the unfamiliar, a suborbital flight reaches the Kármán line (around 62 miles above sea level), but doesn’t reach orbit. It’s a major milestone, and if Honda hits that target by 2029, it’ll enable additional tests, payload missions, and potential crewed missions down the road.

To achieve a suborbital launch, however, the company will need a more powerful rocket. This will likely require a significant investment of money and time. The automaker hasn’t publicly committed to entering the crowded and lucrative orbit launch market, where established players like SpaceX and Blue Origin dominate. It also has yet to commit to actually producing any rockets for launches, though it has demonstrated that it can make one that works.

The Taiki Town Launch

This test flight represents the company’s next step. The first-generation, four-legged rocket took off and landed in Taiki Town, Japan, earlier this week. In total, the liftoff and landing site are just over 21 feet tall and weigh more than 2,800 pounds at takeoff.

During its brief 56.6-second flight, the vehicle maintained a stable lift, showed vertical flight control, and landed safely. It successfully touched down just 37 centimeters from the intended target — a crucial milestone for a company that didn’t even reveal its space program a couple of years ago.

Taiki Town is emerging as a “space town” in Japan. A joint effort between local government and companies, including JAXA, is working to develop Taiki Town into an aerospace hub.

The Towns-Honda alliance could be the latest in a string of smart partnerships and innovation developments in the region. A growing space sector has become a key part of Taiki Town’s economic future.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Honda has shown an interest in space. The automaker first announced its intentions to build a rocket in 2021. However, most of its work developing a rocket launch vehicle has remained under wraps since then.

It’s not Honda’s expertise in robotics and high-precision that made this rocket possible. Instead, the company borrowed technology from other industries, namely, its autonomous vehicle division. The navigation and safety features originally built for roads were repurposed for rocket controls and navigation.

Launching Satellites for Cars?

There are two key reasons why Honda entered the space business. First, the company believes that satellite technology is critical to several of its upcoming businesses, including connected car technology, logistics, and autonomous vehicles.

If the space race has taught us anything, it’s that satellite infrastructure is a must for our connected society. More cars on the road are reliant on satellite-based technology to stay connected, and autonomous vehicles are entirely dependent on these technologies.

This explains why Honda wants to have an in-house space program, if it chooses to enter the orbital launch market. Satellites could be critical to future vehicle-to-everything connectivity, real-time navigation, and vehicle health monitoring. Essentially, they could be a business enabler.

Secondly, Honda has a distinct advantage with an in-house launch capability. Honda’s rockets are cheaper to produce, it claims. It can use existing technologies and does not need to license the hardware from others. For companies like the automaker, this could be a significant competitive advantage in a market where companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin already hold a commanding presence.

Kármán Line, named after the late Hungarian physicist Theodore von Kármán, is a common milestone for many aspiring space companies. This measurement marks the transition from space to earth, so if a rocket reaches this point, it technically qualifies as a space launch.

The company sees a suborbital flight as a major milestone. It believes this could help Honda lay the groundwork for spaceflight and establish a foothold in the burgeoning launch market. If all goes well, it could be the next step in Japan’s space ambitions.

Still, a company has to launch its own rockets before it can reach orbit. If it’s even interested in entering that market, it would require more resources, more time, and more engineering expertise.

No space firm would pursue an orbital flight without a suborbital flight, and Honda has yet to commit to entering the orbital launch market. So, it remains to be seen whether the automaker will be a short-range rocket operator or an all-in space play.

But, the new robot landing suggests the automaker is serious. It has the hardware, the technology, and now the flight data to make that decision.

The Future Looks Spacey

The Japanese automotive giant has already targeted a suborbital launch by 2029. Assuming that plan is successful, the next couple of years will be pivotal. Not only will they be critical for Japan’s automotive giant to develop new technology, but they’ll be crucial for the automaker’s decision on whether it wants to enter the orbital launch market.

Regardless of what happens next, the automaker’s first successful rocket landing means it’s in a different league of private players.

The automaker, which has stayed on the ground for over 80 years, is now planning to take the next leap and head to the skies.