Up in flames: The Kairos rocket exploding shortly after its inaugural launch. — Reuters
Kairos, a small, solid-fuel rocket made by the country’s Space One, exploded shortly after its inaugural launch as the firm tried to become the first Japanese company to put a satellite in orbit.
The 18m rocket exploded seconds after lifting off at 11.01am, leaving behind a large cloud of smoke, a fire, fragments of the rocket and firefighting water sprays near the launch pad, visible on local media livestreams.
Space One said it “terminated the flight” after the launch on the tip of mountainous Kii peninsula in western Japan and was investigating flight data.
Shuhei Kishimoto, governor of local Wakayama government, told reporters after being briefed by Space One that a problem triggered the autonomous flight-termination system but did not specify what the problem was.
There were no injuries near the launch pad and the fire has been extinguished, Kishimoto added.
Space One has said the launch is highly automated, including the flight-termination function, 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 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.
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.
Although the company delayed Kairos’ inaugural launch window four times, it said orders for its second and third planned trips have been filled, including by an overseas customer.
Kairos is composed of three stages of solid-fuel engines and a liquid-fuel post-boost stage engine attempting to carry payloads of up to 250 kg to low-Earth orbit.
Space One did not disclose Kairos’ launch costs, but company executive Kozo Abe said it is “competitive enough” against American rival Rocket Lab.
Rocket Lab has launched more than 40 Electron small rockets from New Zealand since 2017 at roughly US$7mil (RM32.7mil) per flight. — Reuters
