Japan's Space One Kairos rocket fails minutes after liftoff (updated)

IHI

18/12/2024 03:38

(Adds details and background in paragraphs 3-8)
    By Kantaro  Komiya
       TOKYO, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Space One terminated
the flight of its Kairos small rocket shortly after liftoff on
Wednesday, marking the end of its second attempt in nine months
to become the country's first company to deliver a satellite to
space.
    The flight, which only lasted about 10 minutes, was
terminated because "the achievement of its mission would be
difficult", Space One said in an email to reporters.
        Live images from the local Wakayama prefecture
government showed the 18-metre (59 ft) solid-propellant rocket
blasting off from Spaceport Kii in western Japan at 11:00 a.m.
(0200 GMT) but losing stability in its trajectory as it
ascended.
    Five small satellites, including one from the Taiwan Space
Agency, were on board the rocket headed into sun-synchronous
orbit roughly 500 km (311 miles) above the Earth's surface.
    Space One is investigating the incident and will host a
press conference at 2:00 p.m. local time, the company said.
    Tokyo-based Space One was founded in 2018 by Canon
Electronics  7739.T , IHI's  7013.T  aerospace unit,
construction firm Shimizu  1803.T  and a state-backed bank, with
the goal of launching 20 small rockets a year by 2029 to capture
growing satellite launch demand.
        At its debut flight in March, Kairos, carrying a
Japanese government satellite, exploded five seconds after
launch. 
    Inappropriate flight settings triggered the rocket's
autonomous self-destruct system even though no issues were found
in its hardware, Space One later said.

 (Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Himani Sarkar and
Nicholas Yong)
 ((Kantaro.Komiya@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @kantarokomiya;))