According to the statement of the Japan Space Research Agency (JAXA), the second stage engine of the H3 rocket, which was launched at 10:37 am local time from the Tanegashima Space Center, 1000 kilometers south of the capital, failed to ignite 8 minutes after takeoff.
Accordingly, the H3 rocket was instructed to detonate at around 10.50 am local time.
ROCKET APPEAL FROM THE MINISTER
Nagaoka Keiko, Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), publicly apologized for the situation.
Stating that “the public and interested parties failed to meet their hopes,” Nagaoka said that the causes of MEXT and JAXA that caused the problem would be determined immediately.
The rocket payload included the Advanced Land Observation Satellite-3 of the Ministry of Defense of Japan, which includes a missile early warning system.
The rocket, 63 meters long and 5.2 meters wide, produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and JAXA, is known as the successor of the H2A rocket.
With the H3 rocket, it was aimed to increase the payload capacity of the H2A rocket by 1.3 times and to halve the launch cost.
The H3 rocket project, known to have been launched by MHI and JAXA 9 years ago, is estimated to cost around 200 billion yen ($1.5 billion). (AA)