A start-up aiming to become the first private Japanese company to put a satellite into orbit suffered another failure Wednesday during the launch of its Kairos rocket, after a first attempt in March which ended in an in-flight explosion.
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Local television footage showed the thin white rocket lifting off from the company’s Space One launch site, but it could then be seen spiraling into the distance after the decision to abort the flight.
Kairos “experienced an anomaly (…) 80 seconds after takeoff,” explained Mamoru Endo, a Space One manager, during a press conference on Wednesday.
“Our data shows that the rocket was flying west instead of the originally planned south direction,” and it was not able to return to its trajectory, he added.
“We do not consider this incident to be a failure,” however, tempered Mr. Endo. “We believe the data and experience gained is extremely valuable. They will be useful for the next challenge.”
Space One said it hoped to launch a third Kairos rocket as soon as possible, but did not provide a specific timetable.
Spectators, gathered near the shooting range located at the very end of the Kii peninsula, in the Wakayama department (west), a mountainous and forested area, expressed their disappointment in front of television cameras.
“I am very shocked,” said a Japanese woman after the launch failure was announced. “I was hoping it would go into orbit,” she said.
Imiter SpaceX
No spectacular explosion was filmed by television cameras, unlike the first launch attempt last March, during which the rocket burned up in mid-flight a few seconds after takeoff.
This time, the solid-fuel rocket carried five satellites, including one from Taiwan’s space agency and others designed by Japanese students and companies.
This mission aimed to revive Japan’s ambition to play a greater role in the global space launch services market.
Private companies offer cheaper and more frequent space exploration opportunities than government programs, and Space One hopes to emulate Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has contracts with NASA and the Pentagon.
Space One was founded in 2018 by a consortium of Japanese companies including Canon Electronics, IHI Aerospace and the Shimizu construction group, as well as the Development Bank of Japan, a state-led financial institution.
The start-up had already had to postpone its inaugural mission five times, having notably experienced difficulties in supplying components, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) also aims to become a major player in satellite launches.
But the Jaxa’s new generation H3 launch system also experienced setbacks before a successful takeoff in February.
And in December, Jaxa announced it was delaying its launch program for its Epsilon S compact solid-fuel rocket following a major fire during an engine test.
However, at the beginning of the year, Japan placed an unmanned probe on the Moon, becoming only the fifth country to achieve such a feat.
