Honda has been busy testing a new Type R. Where the 'R' is a rocket, that is. The carmaker’s R&D subsidiary successfully executed Japan’s first take-off and landing of a reusable rocket at its research base in Hokkaido.
The rocket, aka 'reusable launch vehicle' (RLV), measures over six meters long, 85cm wide and weighs 900 kilos, and on this jolly little expedition, reached an altitude of almost 300 metres with liquid fuel propulsion. We’re not told how much rocket fuel was required, or how hot it burned, but we’re guessing the answers are ‘a lot’ and ‘very’.
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After roughly a minute airborne, the RLV was then brought back to a point within 37cm of the landing spot. Pretty, er, spot-on.
Honda’s been working on creating an RLV (as opposed to the conventional 'expendable launch vehicle' (ELV) to ferry small satellites into orbit for about six years now, as part of a broader push into the ‘mobility of the future’.
And it’s not alone in the race to reach realms beyond Earth, because it's 2025 and that's the landscape now. Geely, GM, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota and Venturi have been teaming up with space-related mates, and making machines bound for the cosmos, too.
NOTE: This story first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
