FLIGHT TERMINATION
News programmes showed the slim, white 18m rocket soaring far into the sky before its dizzy descent.
There was no dramatic explosion – unlike in March when the first Kairos rocket, carrying a small government test satellite, was ordered to self-destruct due to technical problems just seconds after launch.
The latest rocket on Wednesday was carrying five satellites, including one from the Taiwan Space Agency and others designed by Japanese students and corporate ventures.
Space One, which was still investigating details of the failure, said earlier that “Kairos was launched … but the rocket terminated its flight after judging that the achievement of its mission would be difficult”.
Space One was founded in 2018 by businesses including Canon Electronics, IHI Aerospace, construction firm Shimizu and the government-run Development Bank of Japan.
