Honda Space

Honda Space refers to the reusable-rocket and space research programme run by Honda R&D Co., Ltd., the research and development subsidiary of Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co., Ltd., rather than to Honda's automotive or motorcycle businesses.

Honda disclosed that it had begun developing rocket engines in 2019 as part of a broader effort to apply its internal-combustion, combustion-control, guidance and materials expertise to space applications, stating ambitions to use small launch vehicles to deploy its own satellites in support of other Honda businesses, such as connected-vehicle data services, and eventually to offer suborbital flight services.

On 17 June 2025, Honda conducted a launch-and-landing test of an experimental reusable rocket prototype — just over 6 metres tall and roughly 1,300 kg in mass — at its test facility in Taiki, Hokkaido, reaching an altitude of nearly 300 metres before landing under rocket propulsion within about 15 inches (37 cm) of its target, a vertical-takeoff-vertical-landing (VTVL) test broadly analogous to early SpaceX Grasshopper/Falcon 9 hop tests.

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said the test was 'another step forward in our research on reusable rockets' and described rocket research as 'a meaningful endeavor that leverages Honda's technological strengths.' Honda has stated a goal of conducting a suborbital launch by 2029, though as of the test the programme remained an internal R&D effort with no announced dedicated commercial launch vehicle, customer contracts or corporate spin-off. The rocket programme continues as an active research effort within Honda R&D.