Japan's space agency says it will launch the first H3 rocket on February 12.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, also said on Friday that Japan's new mainstay launch vehicle will blast off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.

The rocket will carry a new Daichi-3, Earth observation satellite, which is expected to be used for disaster management. The 63-meter H3 is the largest among Japan's domestically developed rockets.

JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have been jointly developing this successor to the H2A rocket. More than 1.5 billion dollars have been spent on the project.

The development of the rocket is in its final stages. An engine combustion test was carried out at the space center's launch pad in November without problems.

Its development began in 2014. To compete with foreign rivals in the space business, the rocket has a payload about 30 percent larger than that of the H2A and costs about half as much to launch.

But its first launch had been put off twice, mainly due to difficulties in developing the new main engine, whose structure was simplified to cut costs.

The H3 rocket will also be used in the US-led Artemis program, aimed at putting humans on the moon.