Japanese Space Startup ISC and U.S. Partner Sirius Set to Launch Rockets from Spaceport America
A space startup from Tokyo Japan, Innovative Space Carrier Inc. (ISC) and its Colorado-based branch Sirius Technologies, have signed a two-year lease at Spaceport America. ISC plans to test and develop rocket engines and launch vehicles from Spaceport.
Sirius functions as ISC’s tech and development team. Together, they’re building a reusable rocket that can be launched, landed, and re-used. Ultimately they hope to design a rocket that can go straight into orbit in a single stage, without needing boosters or extra parts, creating a space transportation system that can travel between Japan and the U.S. and back.
ISC and Sirius partnered with a Colorado-based company called Ursa Major just over a year ago. They’ve ordered ten of Ursa’s Hadley rocket engines and are teaming up to design a larger engine based on Ursa’s Arroway model. These engines will help power future test flights and eventually full space missions.
To get ready, ISC and Sirius will build a few facilities at the spaceport, including storage areas, a launch test stand, and a building to prep rockets. Their tests will focus heavily on reusability, which is a major goal in making space travel more affordable and sustainable.
This kind of rocket testing is a first for Spaceport America under a long-term lease, and with single-stage-to-orbit launches on the horizon, it could mark the beginning of a new era for space travel, right from the heart of southern New Mexico.
