TOKYO, 13 Mar: A commercial rocket trying to put a satellite into orbit was intentionally exploded shortly after liftoff Wednes-day morning in central Japan following a problem that\u2019s still under investigation.
\nSpace One was aiming to be Japan\u2019s first private sector success at putting a satellite into orbit.
\nOnline video showed the Kairos rocket blasting off in a mountainous area filled with trees then exploding five seconds later. A huge plume of smoke engulfed the area, and flames shot up in some spots. Spurts of water were shown trying to put out the blaze.
\nLive footage on public broadcaster NHK showed debris scattering from the sky and later charred pieces were shown strewn about on the ground.
\nNo injuries were reported and the fire was brought under control, according to the fire department for Kushimoto city in Wakayama prefecture.
\nThe launch was halted five seconds after liftoff but the problem that was detec-ted by the rocket\u2019s automa-ted system was unclear and still under investigation, according to Space One.
\nIt occurred during step two of the launch, with the first step being liftoff, and all the pieces of the rocket landed on Space One\u2019s property, the company said.
\n\u201cWe are taking what happened in a positive way and remain prepared to take up the next challenge,\u201d President Masakazu Toyoda told reporters.
\nThe rocket was supposed to have sent a government-made satellite into orbit around Earth to gather various information, including monitoring possible dangers from rocket launches from neighboring North Korea.
\nBut one of its main purposes was for Japan to play catch-up as rocket launches here have fallen behind that of the U.S. and China. The launch has been delayed several times.
\nToyoda and other officials stressed that space travel succeeds only after multiple failures. He even refused to call the aborted launch a failure, and declined to reveal the costs or when the investigation might be completed.
\nTokyo-based Space One was set up in 2018, with inve-stments from major Japanese companies, including Canon Electronics, IHI, Shimizu and major banks. It\u2019s hoping to eventually offer space services and travel. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOKYO, 13 Mar: A commercial rocket trying to put a satellite into orbit was intentionally exploded shortly after liftoff Wednes-day morning in central Japan following a problem that\u2019s still under investigation. Space One was aiming to be Japan\u2019s first private sector success at putting a satellite into orbit. Online video showed the Kairos rocket blasting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236996\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}