Aircraft
Mitsubishi Heavy Finally Axes SpaceJet Program
Two and a half years since suspension of SpaceJet development, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries cuts its losses and cancels the program.
Mitsubishi SpaceJet regional airliner
The SpaceJet M90 appeared at the 2019 Paris Airshow. (Photo: David McIntosh)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on Tuesday confirmed the cancellation of the SpaceJet regional airliner program, nearly two and a half years after suspending development. In its discussion of its Q1 to Q3 2022 financial results, the company cited an insufficient initial understanding of the complex type certification process for commercial aircraft and inadequate financial resources to continue long-term development as the main “lessons learned” from the 15-year exercise.

The company also said it failed to confirm the viability of resuming program activity since its suspension in October 2020, due to four main reasons. The first involved further technical revisions necessary to resume prolonged development and the need for decarbonization “solutions.” Second, the company said it ran into difficulty gaining necessary cooperation from global partners.

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