Program update
CERTIFICATION PLANS
The patience of MRJ/SpaceJet enthusiasts continued to be
tested when it was reported in October 2019 that the
initial SpaceJet delivery to Japanese launch operator All
Nippon Airways could be delayed at least until the end of
this year. Izumisawa reported that MHI could not
“commit” to the existing mid-2020 schedule, even though
MitAC had previously implied the most-recent SpaceJet
delivery timetable accommodated a generous allowance
for potential delays.
Izumisawa also confirmed late last year in a Reuters
report delays with a new SpaceJet fuselage that is
intended to meet scope-clause requirements for reduced
passenger numbers and aircraft weight. Meanwhile
flight-testing of the current SpaceJet continues in Japan
and the USA, where MitAC has established a
headquarters very much in Boeing territory at Renton,
near Seattle. MitAC chief development officer Alex
Bellamy, an ex-Bombardier C Series flight-test engineer,
has returned to Canada after MitAC announced its
plans to open the SpaceJet Montreal Center in
Boisbriand, Quebec.
In this first year of Canadian operations, MitAC
intends to create around 100 jobs focused on SpaceJet
certification and entry into service before subsequent
expansion, with initial recruits supplemented by MitAC
engineers transferred from Renton and Nagoya.
Bellamy says, “Our Montreal presence adds to our
footprint in major global aerospace hubs, including
Nagoya and Washington State. Quebec is an obvious
choice for us.”
February’s negative news has been accompanied,
perhaps unsurprisingly, by changes in MitAC’s corporate
suite, where MHI America boss Takaoki Niwa was to
replace chief executive Hisakazu Mizutani on April 1,
2020 to give the MRJ/SpaceJet project a third leader in
five years. Mizutani becomes chairman, in which
position MHI says he will “oversee the governance of the
global MitAC organization and lead its deep relationships
with ANA and Japan Airlines”.
A challenge for MitAC has been securing suppliers
to join the new SpaceJet program. Bellamy says, “We
92 MARCH 2020 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
2 // Flight Test Vehicle 5
undergoing lightning-strike
testing, December 2016, in
Nagoya, Japan.
2
MITSUBISHI SPACEJET VARIANTS
SpaceJet M90: 76-92 seats– the “foundation” model based on
MRJ90
SpaceJet M100: 65-88 seats– compliant with US scope-clause
requirements (and replacing the MRJ70)
SpaceJet M200: Up to 100 seats– this potential future model is
“under consideration”
Parent Mitsubishi Heavy Industries says the M100’s scope-clausecompliant
76-seat, three-class cabin is expandable to 88 seats
in a single class, with various configurations to address different
geographic regions.
Typically, triple-class layout will feature seats at 36in, 33in, and 30in
pitch, while an 88-seat format offers seats at 29-inch intervals.
With the SpaceJet M100, MitAC aims to retain the earlier, too-heavy
MRJ70’s planned payload-range performance within the 86,000lb
scope-clause gross-weight limit. The larger SpaceJet M90, which is not
compliant, is planned to enter service first in 2022 or, perhaps, 2023.
Asked about possible further models, MitAC says, “Our focus is
on certification of the SpaceJet M90 and development and final
approval for the 65- to 88-seat SpaceJet M100,” for which it reports “a
tremendous amount of interest with airlines and operators throughout
the world”.
Nevertheless, MitAC continues to evaluate the market and
customer needs, which has prompted a “product study” now under
way for a larger variant with up to 100 seats – “potentially the
SpaceJet M200”, but currently only a “concept”, according to the
Japanese manufacturer.
have to show them that ... we have a new way of
developing aircraft and that they can see a return for
their investment.”
Since the beginning of this year, MitAC has said that
after receiving Japanese type-inspection authorization in
2019, the rate of TC testing has been increasing as the
program moves towards certification, delivery, and
entry into service: “Certification is our current priority
and we continue to work very closely with the JCAB,”
says MitAC.
Meanwhile, MHI chief executive Seiji Izumisawa
insists that the company still wants to enter the airliner
business. “Our aim of broadening our business profile
with finished aircraft remains unchanged,” he says. \\
/AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM