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Japan calls off H3 rocket launch after engine failure

February 17, 2023

Japan's next-generation H3 rocket failed to lift off on Friday morning after what appeared to be an issue with the ignition.

https://p.dw.com/p/4Nd7Y
An H3 rocket sits on the launch pad next to billowing white smoke at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima in Japan.
An H3 rocket sits on the launch pad next to billowing white smoke at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima in JapanImage: Kyodo/AP Photo/picture alliance

Japan's space agency aborted the launch of the country's flagship H3 rocket on Friday due to an apparent ignition problem. 

The rocket is Japan's first new medium-light launcher in nearly three decades.

It failed to lift off as a pair of auxiliary rockets strapped to the side of the space vehicle did not ignite, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said. 

Failure to launch

The event was being streamed live from the JAXA Tanegashima spaceport.

TV footage showed the 57-meter (187 feet) rocket sitting motionless on its launch pad, as white smoke emerged from its main engines.

The rocket, developed for more frequent commercial launches, was to carry an observation satellite also fitted with an experimental infrared sensor that could detect missile launches.

"I know many people were waiting for and looking forward to this day. I'm so sorry and I feel extremely regretful and frustrated myself,'' JAXA mission manager Masashi Okada said at a news conference, as he wiped tears.

dvv/fb (AFP, AP, Reuters)