Explosion at a Japanese space rocket test center

July 14 () –

The Japanese space agency JAXA suffered another setback on Friday, when a small propulsion unit from the Japanese Epsilon-S launch vehicle it exploded during a test.

According to the space agency, cited by Dpa, no one was injured in the incident at the Noshiro rocket test center in Akita prefecture, in the north of the country. JAXA is investigating the cause of the explosion that occurred approximately one minute after the test.

With the development of the Epsilon-S, Jaxa wants to improve the country’s competitiveness in the growing market for satellite launches.

The first Epsilon series rocket was launched in 2013, initially followed by successful launches of five other models before JAXA had to activate an Epsilon-6 rocket for it to launch. self-destruct after it took off and deviated from its intended trajectory last year.

The failure prompted the agency to delay the launch of the Epsilon-S from fiscal year 2023 to 2024. Epsilon rockets are solid fuel rockets.

Japan’s attempt to launch a newly developed H3 rocket into space with a satellite in March this year it also ended with his self-destruction. The rocket’s second stage propulsion system failed to ignite.