A Japanese company's first orbital launch attempt ended in a dramatic failure just seconds after liftoff on Wednesday. The 18-meter-long, four-stage Kairos solid rocket lifted off from Space Port Kii in Kushimoto, western Japan at 10:01 p.m. EDT March 12 (0201 GMT or 11:01 a.m. Japan time on March 13).
The flight ended abruptly seconds after it rose off the launch pad when the flight termination system triggered, resulting in the The attempt to become the first Japanese private launch company to reach orbit resulted in debris strewn across the launch site. A post-launch press conference stated that no damage was caused and no personnel injured. Fires visible in the immediate aftermath were soon extinguished.Visitors look on as smoke rises from behind a hill after a small rocket by Tokyo-based startup Space One exploded upon take-off, at the Spaceport Kii site in Kushimoto, Wakayama prefecture, on March 13, 2024. "The rocket terminated the flight after judging that the achievement of its mission would be difficult," company president Masakazu Toyoda said, Reuter