Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) remains tight-lipped on the future of its SpaceJet commercial aircraft program but confirms to AirInsight that a restart is still under evaluation. The Japanese company has been winding down the program since 2020, but apparently, this still doesn’t mean that the book is closed. Mitsubishi says SpaceJet restart is still "under evaluation". In May 2021, MHI said during the presentation of its 2020 results that it would reassess to future of the SpaceJet during the fiscal year 2021, which ran until March 31, 2022. It referred to a decision as a “key activity”. Mitsubishi will announce its 2021 results on May 12 and potentially share new details on the outcome of its review last year. In reply to questions on the program from AirInsight, an MHI spokesperson says in an email: “The status of the reassessment of the program is still under evaluation. MHI would like to refrain from the comment at this moment.” However, all indications are that a restart of the SpaceJet is highly unlikely. Since May 2020, Mitsubishi has only taken steps to wind down the program. Back then, the budget of the SpaceJet M90 was reduced and the development of the M100 76-seater was suspended. That same month, Mitsubishi announced the closure of most of its offices and activities outside Japan. Moses Lake base is now closed with four test aircraft still there This includes the base at Moses Lake, which has been officially closed by the end of March, the MHI spokesperson confirms. Moses Lake was established in 2016 as Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation’s key hub of the flight test program. The first of four test aircraft of what was called the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) back then arrived at Moses Lake in September 2016. The Japanese partnered with AeroTEC on the flight test and certification of the 100-seat regional aircraft. Only days after the arrival of the first MRJ90 in the US, the program hit another delay as Mitsubishi commissioned the redesign of some crucial electronic components. Despite the relaunch of the program in 2019 as SpaceJet and the focus on the 76-seater, the Japanese airliner never got back on track again, with the Covid-crisis dealing it another blow. It didn’t help either that the partnership with AeroTEC ended acrimoniously. With Moses Lake now officially closed, that leaves still four test aircraft there in various stages of hibernation. The Mitsubishi spokesperson confirms that one of the aircraft registered JA23MJ, has been disposed of in March and de-registered from the Japanese aircraft register. It is one of the most ‘famous’ aircraft, as JA32MJ participated in full All Nippon Airways livery at the 2017 Paris Airshow and 2018 Farnborough Airshow, even joining the flight demonstration program at the latter event (see the main picture). The aircraft made its first flight on November 22, 2016, and its last at Moses Lake on March 16, 2020, returning from Portland. The first flight test aircraft, JA21MJ, has been grounded at Moses Lake since May 12, 2020, with JA22MJ inactive even since February 3 that same year. JA24MJ made her last flight over US territory on March 23, 2020. Asked what will happen to these aircraft, the spokesperson says that this is still under evaluation too. Back in Japan, the first SpaceJet M90 JA26MJ ,hasn’t flown since May 12, 2020, and is stored at Toyoyama. There are reports that other flight test aircraft under construction have been dismantled. With the production tools having been dismantled too and most of the 1.500 workforce of the SpaceJet program disposed of, it seems most unlikely that Mitsubishi is in a position to restart the SpaceJet if that would be the outcome of its assessment. The acquisition of the Bombardier CRJ program by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Regional Jets and plans to prepare the type for the use of hydrogen in partnership with ZeroAvia, as announced last year, offers a more logical and much cheaper way ahead than clinging onto a design that’s now fifteen years old and still has to fly its first passengers.
