Mitsubishi SpaceJet M90 makes its maiden flight

Japan is getting back into the commercial jet business, and it’s been a long time coming.

Recently, a final test prototype of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation’s SpaceJet M90 made its maiden flight, a 2-hour journey over the Pacific Ocean for performance testing.

The M90 is the first commercial aircraft to be designed and built in Japan since the 1960s. It stemmed from a government research project that kicked off in 2003 which, 12 years later, resulted in the first prototype becoming delayed over redesigns.

The 88-passenger regional airliner, powered by two Pratt & Whitney engines, was built initially to compete with Bombardier and Embraer planes in the sub-100-seat segment. Flight tests will continue in the coming weeks, according to a Mitsubishi press release, and the craft will also be ferried to Washington state to the Moses Lake Flight Test Center for the last phase of its testing.

Alex Bellamy, Mitsubishi Aircraft’s Chief Development Officer, noted that the event “marks the start of certification flight testing for the first SpaceJet M90 in final, certifiable configuration.” And for Mitsubishi, this milestone is no doubt a relief. The original schedule for delivery of this craft was, at one point in time, the year 2013.