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First time I saw a domain named `honda`. On further research [1], I see that many companies have Top Level Domains of their name. Why did IANA/ICANN allow TLDs of company's names?

[1]: https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt

Here is the video which they should have put in the post:

https://global.honda/content/dam/site/global-en/topics-new/c...

Question why is it so easy today to build reusable rockets? Is it because the onboard cpu speed of the chips can solve more granular control problems with low latency?

Ah, the pioneer effect in full effect- as in - once its proven it can be done, many will do it, finding ever more surprising efficient solutions. And the irony is - sometimes, the guys who are the first - don't even know they are the first. The other team just has some marketing guy, lying through his teeth about the "progress" they have and what they can do. And some manager falls for that- and press-gangs some real engineers to "just-do-that-thing" - and suddenly you are all standalone USP without ever planing for it.

Happened to the unreal team, who created the z-buffer reflections in the marble floor- because some other "engine" from around the world "could do that" - which ironically was a rendered non-real time image.

To sum it up nicely the real innovators, are marketing gurus, lying with "pretend proof" forcing the competition to adapt. Thank you for coming to my TED-walk

I never thought I’d mention Honda and reusable rockets in the same sentence. But that’s exactly what makes tech exciting. When a company you didn’t expect does something bold and impressive, it changes how you see the whole field. Honda’s long history of quiet, precise engineering might be just what space exploration needs more of right now.

For reference, Rocket Lab's Electron has a wet mass of 13,000 kg. This rocket is much smaller at 1,312 kg wet mass.

> reaching an altitude of 271.4 m

I wonder if BPS .pace got further with his solid fuel thrust vectoring? Mustn't be far off that if not. https://bps.space/products/signal-r2

In a mature space launch economy, there is room for every combination of cost and capacity and timing (launch frequency). Like scooters and taxis and truck and trains and cargo ships, each has its place.

Don't imagine because this rocket is a certain size or lift capacity, that it isn't serious. And, this was just an R&D technology test. Who knows where they'll go from here.

This is a tiny rocket going up 300ms and coming back down. Happy for them but they're a long way from any utility ( and a decade+ behind other companies )

I often described my wife's old Honda Civic, which we finally sold (still running and able to be driven) w/ just north of 340,000 miles, as having been to the moon and on its way back. I like the idea that someday Honda hardware could, in fact, send something to the moon.

One small step for Japan, one big step for space industry competition.

I guess its healthy for the competition to exist. There will be more innovation moving forward. For Japanese it was long due.

Big congratulations to the engineers! Also had no idea that .honda is a TLD that's really cool.

I think there's about 5 or 6 private startups on the brink of attempting orbital booster landings within the next few months. This... is at least a decade behind that, if they're serious.

Note that they don't appear to have an orbital engine yet—this thing's far too small, it has to be some kind of one-off for this demo flight. Most of the competition leaped directly to testing an engine they were developing for orbital launches, in their suborbital hops.

Yay Honda ... competition!

I want the NSX edition.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/v00pN4FyfuM

Initially wanted to say I’m impressed they got it on the first launch

But, couldn’t specifically tell if this was indeed the first launch or not, and perhaps there were some private failures before - anyone know?

It's impressive that Honda pulled this off without much fanfare. While most headlines are about Tesla or SpaceX, Honda is quietly proving that serious engineering can come from unexpected places. I’m curious if they’re planning to go beyond demos and into actual launch services.

They might be able to replace their F1 electric engine part for 2026 with a jet engine. it will prevent it from not working in the middle of the straight.

The most reliable rocket

Remember Asimo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASIMO

I'd really like to see them scale this up commercially quicker than they did with the humanoid robot they built well ahead of many others.

I wouldn't have expected Honda to enter this space.

Why the huge release of steam from the top of the rocket at the end? Release of heat that builds up during the descent? (Though it's not depending that fast, so it wouldn't be heat from atmospheric friction.)

I guess when you have decades of combustion, control, and automation know-how, this isn't such a stretch. Curious to see if they'll seriously push toward suborbital launches by 2029

I might as well ask here though this is probably a bit off topic: for smaller rockets why are catapults not used? Seems like it could save a bit on fuel and maybe even a stage.

If I was Japan I'd be interested in some of the "one time use" use cases as well given the current geopolitical state of affairs.

No-one thought to make a video of this momentous occasion?

first time ive seen a large corporation do something that indicated they were trying to enter the market that spacex created. i imagine honda entering the race is as big a deal for space exploration as when the first starship touched down

Congratulations to our friends in Japan!

Honda has a TLD????

...looking forward to my rocket-powered Honda Fit!

"you meet the nicest people on a Honda" <https://www.vintag.es/2017/09/you-meet-nicest-people-on-hond...>

I don't know what kind of people you meet on that other, better-known, reusable rocket company.

Is this a precursor to a viable alternative to any of SpaceX products?

vtec kicked in!

HONDA???

its not really high in the atmosphere but its a good start

finally SpaceX got competition

so now any company can get its own TLD? that's cool.

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Those japanese rockets are much smaller compared to our big american sized rockets