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Agence France-Presse

Japan’s space agency said it sent a self-destruct order to its Epsilon rocket after a failed launch on Wednesday because of a problem that meant the craft could not safely fly.
The unstaffed rocket, designed to launch in three stages, was taking several satellites into orbit on its sixth space mission.
“The rocket can’t continue a safe flight, because of the danger it would create if it falls on the ground,” a JAXA official said in comments broadcast by TBS television network.
“So we took measures to avoid such an incident, and we sent the signal (to destroy the rocket),” he said, adding that information on the problem’s cause was not immediately available.
China’s space breakthroughs put a rocket under Japan
It was Japan’s first failed rocket launch since 2003, and public broadcaster NHK said the self-destruct order was issued around 10 minutes after lift-off.
A JAXA live-stream of the launch from the Uchinoura Space Centre in southern Japan’s Kagoshima was interrupted and presenters said there had been a problem, without giving details.
The solid-fuel Epsilon rocket has been in service since 2013.
It is smaller than the country’s previous liquid-fuelled model, and is a successor to Japan’s solid fuel “M-5” rocket that was retired in 2006 due to its high cost.
JAXA describes Epsilon as “a solid-fuel rocket designed to lower the threshold to space … and usher in an age in which everyone can make active use of space”.

A box-shaped satellite carried by the rocket, called RAISE-3, had been due to orbit the Earth for at least a year, according to a JAXA fact sheet about the mission that was named “Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-3”.
Universities, research institutions and companies had been invited to engineer new technologies to try out on RAISE-3.
They ranged from Tokyo Metropolitan University’s “pulsed-plasma thruster” to an experiment in “harvesting energy with (a) lightweight integrated origami structure”.
As well as RAISE-3, eight microsatellites were also being launched by the Epsilon rocket, the fact sheet said.
Japan’s last failed space rocket take-off was in 2003, when the country aborted the launch of a pair of spy satellites to monitor North Korea.


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Japan

Japan’s Epsilon rocket ordered to self-destruct after failed launch

The Epsilon rocket takes off from the Uchinoura Space Centre in southern Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo

The Epsilon rocket was taking several satellites into orbit on its sixth space mission. Photo: JIJI Press/AFP

China’s space breakthroughs put a rocket under Japan

A rocket launch by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Photo: AP

Japan’s space agency says aspiring astronauts no longer need science degrees

A Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut. Photo: Reuters

Aspiring astronauts for JAXA must be Japanese citizens. File photo: JAXA via AP

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata pictured before a trip to the International Space Station in November 2013. File photo: Photo: AFP

Japan space explorer arrives at asteroid, 280 million km from Earth, to search origin of life

Probe will make three landings on asteroid to collect rock samples to try and find clues about the development of the solar system and the origin of life

In this Aug. 31, 2014, photo, asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 is displayed to media by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at its facility in Sagamihara, near Tokyo. The Japanese space explorer that will try to blow a crater in an asteroid and bring back samples from inside is nearing its destination after a 3 1/2 -year journey. The unmanned Hayabusa2 has arrived at the asteroid Wednesday, June 27, 2018, about 280 million kilometers (170 million miles) from Earth. (Kyodo News via AP)

This computer graphics image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 landing on a crater that it made. The Japanese space explorer that will try to blow a crater in an asteroid and bring back samples from inside is nearing its destination after a 3 1/2 -year journey. The unmanned Hayabusa2 has arrived at the asteroid Wednesday, June 27, 2018, about 280 million kilometers (170 million miles) from Earth. (JAXA via AP)

This image taken on June 24, 2018 and provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the Ryugu asteroid. Photo: AP

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Asia

East Asia


Japan’s space agency said a problem had been discovered that meant the solid-fuel rocket could not safely fly
The rocket was taking several satellites into orbit on its sixth space mission



Japan’s space agency said a problem had been discovered that meant the solid-fuel rocket could not safely fly.


Space

Japan’s Epsilon rocket ordered to self-destruct after failed launch

Japan’s space agency said a problem had been discovered that meant the solid-fuel rocket could not safely fly The rocket was taking several satellites into orbit on its sixth space mission

Japan’s space agency said a problem had been discovered that meant the solid-fuel rocket could not safely fly

The rocket was taking several satellites into orbit on its sixth space mission