Japanese company Space One’s Kairos rocket exploded in mid-air shortly after launch

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Tokyo-based Space One’s attempt to mark a milestone in Japan’s space race ended in disaster Wednesday when its solid-fuel-powered Kairos rocket loaded with the company’s first satellite exploded in a fireball shortly after its release in the city of Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture. The company began investigations to find the cause of this incident.

The operating firm of the Kairos had scheduled its launch for this Wednesday after postponing it last Saturday when a ship was detected in the vicinity of the site. The rocket took off from the platform at the scheduled time but exploded in the air just a few seconds later, scattering burning fuel and fragments of it around the platform, as could be seen in the live broadcast of the launch broadcast by the state broadcaster NHK.

Space One intended to become the first private company to launch a satellite into orbit in Japan, in a country where all its previous successful launches of this type had been carried out by the Japanese Aerospace Agency (JAXA), in collaboration with other companies in some cases. The project was part of the Japanese aerospace industry’s efforts to build smaller and cheaper shuttles, given the growing demand from the Government and other actors to deploy satellites.

The Kairos, a more compact model than the new-generation Epsilon S rocket, measured about 18 meters long and weighed about 23 tons. Despite its smaller size and payload capacity, it was touted for its potential to reduce costs and setup times, thanks to its four-stage design with solid propulsion technology, a specialty of the Japanese aerospace industry.

In July 2023, another Japanese rocket engine exploded during a test about 50 seconds after ignition. The incident took place at the test site located in Akita prefecture, where a fire broke out and a large column of gray smoke formed. The anomaly was recorded after the failure, in March 2023, of Tokyo’s second attempt to launch its new generation H3 rocket after takeoff.

However, last month the Japanese space agency celebrated the successful launch of H3, its new flagship rocket, from the Tanegashima Space Center, located southwest of Japan. This achievement comes after years of delays and two failed attempts, and was greeted with joy and applause at the JAXA control center. The H3, which is emerging as a competitor to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, could in the future transport cargo to lunar bases. This development follows Japan’s successful landing of an unmanned probe on the Moon in January, albeit at an unstable angle, making Japan the fifth country to perform a “soft landing” on the Earth’s satellite.