FILE PHOTO: Japan's H3 rocket No. 3 lifts off carrying an Earth observation satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center in Minamitane in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, July 1, 2024, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS/File photo
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has agreed to provide multiple H3 rocket launches for French satellite company Eutelsat Group from 2027, it said on Wednesday.
The deal is a major overseas win for Japan's 220 billion yen ($1.55 billion) state-backed rocket project H3, which in February achieved its first successful flight after a failure last year.
Eutelsat, the world's third-biggest satellite operator by revenue, would become the second foreign client for H3 after Britain's Inmarsat, according to MHI.
A MHI spokesperson declined to comment on the detailed terms, including the costs and the types of orbit Eutelsat would use H3 for its satellite launches.
MHI has previously said it aims to reduce H3's per-launch costs to 5 billion yen and increase the number of annual rocket launches to ten.
For MHI and the Japanese government, H3 is a flagship rocket for Japan's satellites and exploration missions and also a cost-competitive product, given rising global demand for rockets after the advent of commercial launch operators like SpaceX.
Eutelsat, after merging with OneWeb last year, competes with Elon Musk-led SpaceX's Starlink unit in the low-earth orbit communications satellites sector.
A number of new rockets have been rolled out this year. The Vulcan developed by the Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance successfully flew in January. Ariane 6, built by Airbus and Safran's ArianeGroup for European Space Agency, debuted in July.
Jeff Bezos' rocket company Blue Origin expects the launch of its New Glenn by the end of this year, under development for Amazon's satellite internet unit Kuiper.
($1 = 141.7300 yen)
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; editing by Barbara Lewis)
