The Japanese rocket Kairos, which aspired to be the first operated by a private Japanese company to put a satellite into orbit, exploded this Wednesday shortly following its first launch attempt, when its self-destruct mechanism was activated due to a technical problem. The failed launch took place at 11:01 GMT this Wednesday from a platform in Kushimoto (Wakayama, western Japan), and the operating firm, Space One, had scheduled it for today following postponing it last Saturday when a ship was detected in the vicinity of the place.
The rocket took off from the platform at the scheduled time, but exploded in the air just seconds later, scattering burning fuel and fragments of it around the platform, as might be seen in the live broadcast of the launch broadcast by the state broadcaster NHK. . “We have carried out the launch, however, the flight of the rocket has been suspended. Details are currently being investigated,” Space One said in a brief statement following the incident.
Company officials later held a press conference in which they explained that the rocket’s automatic self-destruct mechanism was activated regarding five seconds following takeoff, and within the “safety margin” of the explosion. This safety protocol caused the explosion to occur between 50 and 100 meters high to limit the expansion of the vehicle’s fuel through the forested area surrounding the launch platform and the resulting risks. Local fire departments went to the area to put out the flames caused by the falling fuel, and there is no evidence that there was any material damage or casualties. Dozens of people had gathered in a launch viewing area, regarding 2 kilometers from the Kii Spaceport.
The technical manager of Space One, Mamoru Endo, said that the company is still collecting data and analyzing it to determine the exact reason that triggered the rocket’s self-destruction, although he pointed to a possible anomaly in the speed and direction of the vehicle, a computer failure. or a problem in the sensors.
The objective of the launch was to put an experimental government intelligence satellite into orbit, following flying the rocket for regarding 50 minutes and reaching a height of 500 kilometers. 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 companies in some cases. The company’s president, Masakazu Toyoda, stated that the company “is not going to give up its objective” and will try new launches, although he stressed that first it is necessary to “clarify the causes” of the failure and “explain them to its customers.”
The project is part of the efforts of the Japanese aerospace industry to build smaller and cheaper shuttles, given the growing demand from the Government and other actors to deploy satellites. The rocket Kairos, measuring 18 meters – a relatively small size for these launch vehicles –, 23 tons and solid fuel, was designed to carry a load of 250 kilos to low Earth orbit. Founded in Tokyo in 2018, Space One has the participation of Japanese companies such as the imaging device firm Canon Electronics and the construction company Shimuzu and several of the main national financial groups. The company, which was already forced to delay its initial plans for this first launch in 2022 due to the pandemic and logistical problems, has the goal of sending regarding 30 rockets into space per year for the next decade.
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