Thick smoke rises shortly after the first launch of Japan’s Space 1 small solid-fuel Kairos rocket from the Space 1 launch pad on the tip of the Kii Peninsula in Kushimoto Town, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, on March 13, 2024.
Kyodo News | Reuters
Japan’s Space 1’s small, solid-fuel Kairos rocket exploded shortly after its first launch on Wednesday as it sought to become the first Japanese company to put a satellite into orbit.
The 18-meter (59-foot) four-stage solid-fuel rocket exploded seconds after liftoff at 11:01 a.m. (0201 GMT), leaving a trail of smoke, flames, rocket fragments and firefighting water. . Spray near the launch pad could be seen in a live broadcast by local media from the tip of the Kii Peninsula in western Japan.
SpaceOne said the flight was “interrupted” after launch and it was investigating the situation. There was no immediate indication of the cause of the explosion or whether anyone was injured. During a launch, there is usually no one near the launch pad. Space One said the launch was highly automated and required about a dozen staff at the ground control center.
Kairos carries an experimental government satellite that can temporarily replace intelligence satellites in orbit if they go offline.
SpaceOne was originally scheduled to launch on Saturday but was postponed after a spacecraft entered nearby restricted waters.
Although Japan plays a relatively small role in the space race, the country’s rocket developers are scrambling to build cheaper launch vehicles to meet growing demand for satellite launches from governments and global customers.
Tokyo-based Space One was founded in 2018 by a consortium of Japanese companies: Canon Electronicsaerospace engineering unit Whyconstruction company clear water and the state-backed Development Bank of Japan. Japan’s two largest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuhoalso owns a minority stake.
Canon Electronics shares fell more than 9% after Wednesday’s failed launch.
Space One president Shoichi Toyoda said the company hopes to provide “space express services” to domestic and international customers and aims to launch 20 rockets per year by the end of the 2020s. Although the company has delayed Kairos’ initial launch window four times, it said orders for the second and third planned trips have been filled, including from an overseas customer.
SpaceOne did not disclose the launch cost of Kairos, but company executive Kozo Abe said it was “sufficiently competitive” with U.S. rivals rocket lab.
Rocket Lab has launched more than 40 Electron small rockets from New Zealand since 2017, costing about $7 million per flight. Several Japanese companies have used Electron for missions, including radar satellite manufacturers iQPS and Synspective, and orbital debris removal startup Astroscale.
Last month, the state-funded Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully launched its new cost-effective flagship rocket H3. JAXA completed a historic “precision” moon landing this year, and H3 plans to transport about 20 satellites and probes to space in 2030.
In 2019, Interstellar Technologies conducted Japan’s first privately developed rocket launch with its MOMO series, albeit without a full-scale satellite payload.
Japan is working with the United States to seek to revitalize its domestic aerospace industry to counter technological and military competition from China and Russia.
Last year, the government pledged to provide “comprehensive” support for space startups with technologies critical to national security, with a view to building satellite constellations to enhance intelligence capabilities.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said on Friday it had reached an agreement with Space One to increase the rocket’s payload by testing an energy-saving methane engine.
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