Japan postpones H3 rocket launch to Tuesday due to weather

Japan's new flagship H3 rocket is scheduled to be launched for the first time on Tuesday, one day later than planned due to expected thunderstorms, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Saturday.

The rocket, whose launch has been delayed a number of times for multiple system glitches and bad weather, is now set to take off on the day from the Tanegashima Space Center launch site in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, sometime between 10:37 am and 10:44 am, JAXA said.

On February 17, JAXA aborted the initially planned launch moments before lift-off after an electrical current from the airframe's battery to its main engine's control unit was cut for several seconds.

The space agency said Friday that a new launch had been slated for Monday morning after determining that the technical glitch could be resolved by tweaking the software.

The H3 rocket, Japan's successor to the H2A rocket, its previous mainstay launch vehicle, will carry a land observation satellite as its payload on the first launch, which is designed to assist in disaster management situations.