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Japan: Rocket test site goes up in flames

The incident occurred during a combustion test.

(Bild: Screenshot kameraOne)

Another setback for Japan's space ambitions: A huge fire has broken out at a test site in the south of the country. Journalists who were near the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture reported a huge explosion shortly after the start of a combustion test.

Footage from state broadcaster NHK on Tuesday showed towering fireballs and plumes of white smoke. There have been no reports of casualties so far. The Japanese space agency Jaxa told the AFP news agency that there had been an "abnormality during today's combustion test". The incident is being investigated.

The incident occurred during a combustion test.

(Bild: Screenshot kameraOne)

A Japanese Epsilon missile

(Bild: EPA)

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported that the agency's plan to launch an Epsilon-S rocket by March is now almost impossible. The Asian state's space ambitions have recently been set back by a whole series of failures. In July, the test of an Epsilon-S rocket ended in an explosion 50 seconds after launch.

Series of mishaps in Japan's aerospace industry
In April last year, a lunar module from the Japanese launch company Ispace crashed on the surface of the moon. In January, however, the Japanese space probe Slim made a soft landing on the moon. But the luck was short-lived. In March, the self-destruct mechanism in a Cairo rocket from the Space One company was triggered a few seconds after take-off.