read on app
A rocket being sent into space orbit by a private company in Japan exploded in the air just seconds after launch on Wednesday. Online video shows a rocket named ‘Kairos’ being launched from an offshore area in Wakayama Prefecture in central Japan, but the rocket explodes within seconds of take-off.
After the rocket explosion, a heavy plume of smoke was seen in the area and flames started rising at some places. It is seen in the video that water is being poured at that place in an attempt to extinguish the fire. The rocket belonged to Tokyo-based start-up Space One and it did not immediately respond.
Footage of the catastrophic failure also appeared on Japan’s state broadcaster NHK. This is being said to be the first rocket of a private sector company in Japan. Tokyo-based startup Space One, which had aimed to become the first Japanese private firm to successfully launch a satellite into orbit using a private rocket, has failed.
According to Japanese media reports, the launch had already been delayed several times and was last postponed on Saturday after a ship was spotted in the danger zone. If it had succeeded, ‘Space One’ would have been the first private company to send a rocket into space orbit.
