Kankoh-Maru
Concept Led By: Japanese Rocket Society
Companies Involved: Japanese Rocket Society, Kawasaki, & Mitsubishi (confirmed)
As we’ve seen by now, the Japanese spacecraft designs do not seem to get very far. Yet this design had some potential. It was a proposed vertical takeoff and landing or VTVL, single-stage-to-orbit, reusable launch system. This design was proposed back in the early 1990s by the Japanese Rocket Society, so to be this aspirational roughly 30 years ago was impressive. The ambitious design was eye-opening at that time and still seems pretty incredible today. They seemed to be pretty set on this being a huge step for them as they named the design the Kankoho-maru. It comes from the very first steam-powered ship in Edo-era Japan, which is important to their culture.
Of course, the Japanese are known for their impressive technology and they have many successful tech companies to prove it. Yet in spite of the impressive tech gurus of the time, this project would be a tough one. However, they had some help. Documents uncovered in the late 1990s show that both Kawasaki and Mitsubishi’s Heavy Industries sectors were set to manufacture the rocket. The amount to cover the development would be 3.8 billion yen, which equated to around $40.4 million in the mid-1990s. However, it seems this cost was just too high for everyone at the time and it never went into development. Had it though, we might be way ahead in space affairs.