The enterprise, which officially started in 2008 and cost about
Mitsubishi Heavy initially expected to roll out its first plane by 2013, but a lack of knowhow and technological snags caused the company to postpone its delivery date six times, leading to repeated design changes.
The single-aisle passenger jet with less than 100 seats, named SpaceJet, drew as many as about 450 orders at one point, with customers including
The project, which was supported by
But as the company repeatedly failed to meet its delivery date, many of the suppliers and customers started to see the project as "a lost cause," industry insiders say.
Industry experts believe that the company's corporate culture to prefer in-house development, rather than utilizing outside resources, is partly responsible for the failure.
==Kyodo
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