TANEGASIMA - Decemebr 12, 1996 - After days of lousy weather, Japan's newest rocket, the J1, blasted off from Tanegashima Space Center, Feb. 12, at 8am Japan standard time, carrying with it Japan's dreams of building a reusable unmanned space truck for ferrying equipment and materials to and from the International Space Station next century.

Problem is, those dreams now rest deep on the ocean floor, after Japan's prototype shuttle, dubbed Hyflex, broke free from the floatation system that was supporting it as it floated off Ogasawara Island, where it splashed down after enduring a 15 minute hypersonic flight and 6000 degree heat as it reentered the Earth's atmosphere.

the National Space Development Agency and Japan's space program now face the possibility of major scrutiny following several years of failed or only partially successful missions totally more than $2 billion.

Recently, a reentry capsule, Express, built by Germany and launched by Japan went out of control during its first few orbits after launch in January 1995, and was thought to have crashed into the Pacific ocean, off Chile. However, it was recently discovered in Africa. The previous year, the second H2 launch went flawlessly, until its $400 million communication test satellite, ETS-6, failed to achieve geo-stationary orbit (23,000 kms above the equator) and was instead sent into a highly elliptic orbit through the Van Allen radiation belts, reducing its useful lifespan from six years to two years.

Reports remain scattered as to exactly what went wrong with Hyflex, but the JIJI news service reported that the ropes holding the baby shuttle to its floats broke, causing it to sink like a stone to the ocean floor. NASDA has made no announcement as to whether a recovery attempt will be made using Japan's mini submersible research craft.

Although substantial amounts of data relating to Hyflex's mission of testing hypersonic and reentry technologies were transmitted during the 15 minute flight, recovery of Hyflex itself is essential to confirm the performance of the shuttle's thermal protection system.

Previous to the launch, NASDA scientists had suggested a second Hyflex shuttle might be needed, however, with minimal support from Japan's Ministry of Finance, NASDA and Japan's space program in general now face an uncertain future.