Watch: Japan's Space One Rocket Explodes Seconds After Lifting Off – News18

Japan’s Space One’s small, solid-fuelled rocket exploded shortly after its launch on Wednesday as the firm tried to become the first Japanese company to put a satellite in orbit.

The 18-metre, four-stage solid-fuel Kairos rocket exploded seconds after lifting off just after 11:01 am (local time), leaving behind a large loud of smoke, a fire, fragments of the rocket and firefighting water sprays near the launch pad, visible on local media livestreams of the launch on the tip of mountainous Kii peninsula in western Japan.

Space One said the flight was “interrupted” after the launch and was investigating the situation, news agency Reuters reported. Pads typically have no people anywhere nearby during a launch. Space One has said the launch is highly automated and requires roughly a dozen staff at the ground control centre. Kairos carried an experimental government satellite that can temporarily replace intelligence satellites in orbit if they fall offline.

Space One had planned the launch for Saturday but postponed it after a ship entered the nearby restricted sea area. Although Japan is a relatively small player in the space race, the nation’s rocket developers are scrambling to build cheaper vehicles to capture booming demand for satellite launches from its government and from global clients.

Tokyo-based Space One was established in 2018 by a consortium of Japanese companies: Canon Electronics, the aerospace engineering unit of IHI, construction firm Shimizu, and the state-backed Development Bank of Japan. Two of Japan’s biggest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ, and Mizuho, also own minority stakes. Shares in Canon Electronics fell more than 9% after Wednesday’s failed launch.

Space One wants to offer “space courier services” to domestic and international clients, aiming to launch 20 rockets a year by the late 2020s, its president Masakazu Toyoda said. Last month, state-funded Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched its new cost-efficient flagship rocket, the H3. JAXA completed a historic “pinpoint” moon landing this year, and the H3 is scheduled to carry about 20 satellites and probes to the space by 2030.

(With agency inputs)