Efe Tokyo
Tokyo
Updated Wednesday, March 13, 2024-07:29
The Japanese
Kairos
rocket , which aspired to be the first operated by a private Japanese company to put a satellite into orbit, exploded this Wednesday shortly after its first launch attempt.
The failed launch took place at 11:01 GMT this Wednesday (2:01 GMT) from a platform in
Kushimoto (Wakayama, western Japan)
, and the operating firm,
Space One
, had scheduled it for today after postponing it last Saturday when a boat was detected in the vicinity of the place.
The rocket took off from the platform at the scheduled time but exploded in the air just a few seconds later, scattering burning fuel and fragments of it around the platform, as could be seen in the live broadcast of the launch broadcast by the state broadcaster NHK.
"We have carried out the launch, however, the rocket's flight has been suspended. The details are currently being investigated," Space One said in a brief statement.
The objective of the launch was to put an
experimental government intelligence satellite
into orbit , after flying the rocket for about 50 minutes and reaching a height of 500 kilometers.
Space One intended to become the first private company to launch a satellite into orbit in Japan, in a country where all its previous successful launches of this type had been carried out by the
Japanese Aerospace Agency (JAXA)
, in collaboration with companies in some cases.
The project was part of the Japanese aerospace industry's efforts to build smaller and cheaper shuttles, given the growing demand from the Government and other actors to deploy satellites.
The Kairos rocket, 18 meters - a relatively small size for these launch vehicles - 23 tons and solid fuel, was designed to carry a load of 250 kilos into low Earth orbit.
Founded in Tokyo in 2018, Space One has the participation of Japanese companies such as the imaging device firm
Canon Electronics
and the construction company
Shimuzu
and several of the main national financial groups.