JAPAN’S ROCKET EXPLODES SECONDS AFTER LAUNCH

Only seconds after its inaugural launch, a rocket made by Japan’s Space One exploded.

The solid-fuel rocket was set to make Space One the first Japanese company to put a satellite in orbit.

The rocket was 18 metres in length and after it exploded, left a massive cloud of smoke, balls of fire and fragments of the rocket itself. The explosion happened on live local media streams and showed firefighters battling to contain the fire near the launch pad.

Space One president Masakzu Toyoda said, “the rocket terminated the flight after judging that the achievement of its mission would be difficult”.

Toyoda didn’t specify exactly what it was that triggered the self-destruction of the rocket named Kairos. In a statement, Japan’s first rocket company pledged to investigate the explosion.

“We don’t use the word ‘failure’, because each trial brings us… New data and experience for another challenge”.

No injuries were reported near the launch pad and the fire was successfully extinguished.

Reuters reports that Kairos carried an experimental government satellite that can temporarily replace intelligence satellites in orbit if they fall offline.

The initial launch would have happened on Saturday already, but it was postponed because a ship entered the nearby restricted sea area.

Image credit: Bangkok Post