Private Japanese rocket explodes just seconds after lift-off

Space One’s rocket exploded by seconds after lift-off (Picture: EPA/ Kyodo News/ AP)

A Japanese rocket exploded just seconds after lift-off for its mission to put a satellite into orbit.

Live-streamed footage showed the rocket, called Kairos, blasted off from the mountainous Wakayama Prefecture in central Japan, but exploded in mid-air within seconds of lift-off on Wednesday. A huge plume of smoke engulfed the area.

The video then showed burning debris falling onto the slopes around as sprinklers began spouting water to put out the blaze.

Made by Japanese firm Space One, Karios was carrying a small government test satellite.

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

Space One did not specify what triggered self-destruction after the first-stage engine ignited – or when the company would launch the next Kairos – only pledging an investigation into the explosion.

If successful, the plan was for Kairos – an ancient Greek word meaning ‘the right moment’ – to put the satellite into orbit around 51 minutes after take-off.

The fire has been extinguished and there were no injuries near the launch pad, Shuhei Kishimoto, governor of the local Wakayama government, told reporters.

‘The rocket terminated the flight after judging that the achievement of its mission would be difficult,’ company president Masakazu Toyoda said at a news conference.

‘We don’t use the world ‘failure’, because each trial brings us … new data and experience for another challenge.’

But the mayor of Kushimoto, a town of 15,000 residents in Wakayama, voiced his disappointment.

‘I didn’t even imagine an outcome like this,’ Katsumasa Tashima told reporters shortly after the explosion.

But the town ‘will continue to support Space One, and we want to continue to offer our help so that the first rocket will have a successful launch’.

Space One had delayed the launch several times, with the last postponement coming Saturday after a ship was spotted in a risk area, according to Japanese media reports.

The Kairos rocket lifting off from its launch site (Picture: EPA)

Space One’s Kairos rocket explodes after liftoff (Picture: Kyodo News/ AP)

Space One said the launch is automated and requires around a dozen staff at the ground control centre.

The company had initially aimed to launch the 18-metre, 23-ton rocket in 2021, but has now postponed it five times. Issues in getting parts during the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were cited as reasons for the earlier delays.

Tokyo-based Space One was set up in 2018 with investments from major Japanese companies, including Canon Electronics, IHI, Shimizu and major banks, and hopes to offer space services and travel.