On camera, Japan’s first private satellite explodes seconds after launch

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On camera, Japan's first private satellite explodes seconds after launch

Seconds after launch, the rocket burst into a ball of fire.

Tokyo:

A rocket made by a Japanese company exploded shortly after launch on Wednesday, public broadcaster NHK showed footage of the catastrophic failure.

Tokyo-based startup Space One aimed to become the first Japanese private company to successfully place a satellite in orbit.

Its 18-meter (60-foot) solid-fuel Kairos rocket lifted off from the startup’s own launch pad in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, carrying a small government test satellite.

But seconds after launch, the rocket burst into flames, filling the launch pad area with black smoke.

As the sprinklers started spraying water, burning debris was seen falling on the surrounding hill slopes.

“The launch of the first Cairos rocket was executed, but we took a measure to abort the flight,” Space One said in a statement, adding that the details are being investigated.

The failure is a blow to Japan’s efforts to enter the potentially lucrative satellite-launch market.

The government wants to assess whether it can quickly launch temporary, smaller satellites if its existing spy satellites malfunction.

Kairos expected to place the satellite in orbit approximately 51 minutes after launch.

Space One was founded in 2018 by a team of leading Japanese tech businesses, including Canon Electronics, IHI Aerospace, construction firm Shimizu and the state-owned Development Bank of Japan.

Last July another Japanese rocket engine exploded about 50 seconds after ignition during testing.

The solid-fuel Epsilon S was an improved version of the Epsilon rocket that had failed to launch the previous October.

Its test site in the northern prefecture of Akita burst into flames and a huge plume of brown smoke rose into the sky.

A second attempt to launch its next-generation H3 rocket in Tokyo in March 2023 was marred by a malfunction after it failed after liftoff.

However last month Japan’s space agency successfully launched its new flagship rocket, the H3, after years of delays and two previous failed attempts.

H3 launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, causing cheers and applause at the JAXA control center.

It has been pitched as a rival to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, and could one day deliver cargo to bases on the Moon.

Following Japan’s successful landing of an unmanned probe on the Moon in January – albeit at an awkward angle – it is only the fifth c

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