Japan Epsilon Rocket To Self-Destruct After Launch Failed

Japan's Epsilon Rocket carrying some satellites failed to lift off on Wednesday, and the country's space agency immediately ordered the Epsilon launch vehicle to self-destruct.

Kyodo News said the incident brought a setback to an organization eager to increase its uptake of commercial satellites for its launches since Japan's first rocket launch failure in November 2003, when an H2A rocket was purposefully destroyed shortly after liftoff.

Failed Launch

Japan's first unsuccessful rocket launch in over 20 years occurred on Wednesday with the Epsilon-6 rocket, which was unable to circle the Earth and had to be terminated after less than seven minutes in the air.

"We deeply apologise for our failure to live up to the expectations," Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) President Hiroshi Yamakawa told an online news conference (via Al Jazeera) after the mission was aborted.

Yamakawa made a commitment to support the investigation into what went wrong.

Following the launch of commercial satellites on Wednesday, Japan's NHK network said the anticipation for the space agency's entry into the booming satellite sector was high.

A technical issue was detected just before the launch's third and final stage, when the last powerful booster was scheduled to be launched, according to JAXA project manager Yasuhiro Funo.

TOPSHOT-JAPAN-SPACE — TOPSHOT - The Epsilon rocket No. 6 takes off from the launch pad at the Uchinoura Space Center (USC) in Kimotsuki-gun, Kagoshima Prefecture on October 12, 2022. - Japan's space agency sent a self-destruct order to its Epsilon rocket after a failed launch, public broadcaster NHK and other local media reported on October 12. STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images

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"We ordered the rocket's destruction because if we cannot send it into the orbit that we planned, we don't know where it will go," he said in the same Al Jazeera report, leading to safety concerns about where the space vehicle could fall.

Representatives of JAXA said the rocket couldn't fly safely and achieve the desired orbit and transmitted a signal for self-destruction as a result. According to officials, the rocket and payloads most likely touched down in the water east of the Philippines.

About Epsilon Rocket

Eight microsatellites and a box-shaped satellite that was expected to conduct experiments in Earth's orbit for at least a year were carried by the 26-meter Epsilon-6 rocket.

As part of the agency's third Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration program, researchers and commercial enterprises have created new technologies to be tested in orbit.

A JAXA data sheet states that their technique ranged from an experiment in "pulsed plasma thruster" to a "harvesting energy with (a) lightweight, integrated origami structure."

JAXA, according to Japan Times, characterizes Epsilon as a solid-fuel rocket designed to lower the threshold to space and usher in an age where everyone can make active use of space.

It is a replacement for the solid-fuel M-5 rocket, which was phased out in 2006 owing to its high cost and is smaller than the nation's previous liquid-fueled variant.