Space One Co. a Japanese startup backed by Canon Inc. has failed to send its first rocket into space, a major setback in its attempts to join the rapidly growing commercial launch market, Bloomberg reports, UNN writes.
Details
The Kairos light rocket exploded just seconds after liftoff at around 11 a.m. local time on Wednesday morning from the Kii Spaceport, about 420 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. The footage showed a plume of smoke forming around the burning debris, which soon went out.
The self-destruct order was sent to the ship about five seconds after launch, Space One CEO Masakazu Toyoda told reporters. "A team will be formed to investigate what happened," Toyoda said, adding that no one was injured and all the fragments fell on the grounds of the complex. - "It is still difficult to determine what will happen to future launches.
Shares of Canon Electronics Inc. fell by almost 13% immediately after the explosion. The day before the launch, shares of the Canon subsidiary were trading at their highest level since April 2018.
"Although it is sad, we are glad that the self-destruct device worked quickly and no one was injured," Wakayama Governor Shuhei Kishimoto told reporters.
According to Space One, Kairos, which means "the right moment" in ancient Greek, was carrying a government satellite.
The launch was scheduled for March 9, but the operators were forced to postpone it after the vessel was found at sea in an area that was to be evacuated.
Addendum
Founded in 2018, the company is backed by investors such as Canon Electronics Inc. and IHI Aerospace Engineering Co. as well as real estate contractor Shimizu Corp. and the Development Bank of Japan. According to CEO Masakazu Toyoda, previous launches were postponed due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
At 18 meters in height, Kairos is shorter than the 24-meter Epsilon of the Japanese National Space Agency and the 63-meter-high H3, which JAXA launched in February.
The Kii Spaceport is Japan's first commercial launch facility, offering companies an alternative to the site used by JAXA in southern Japan.