Japan Space Agency's Epsilon Rocket Fails During Launch

JAXA gagal luncurkan roket Epsilon. (foto: teitter @JAXA_en)

JAKARTA - The Japanese space agency's Epsilon rocket failed shortly after its launch on Wednesday, October 12. This was reported by Kyodo News and other domestic media.

According to a Kyodo report, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sent a destroy order signal to the rocket after detecting a problem. Public broadcaster NHK also said the signal was sent after JAXA determined that the rocket could not fly safely.

It was Japan's first major rocket launch failure since 2003, and the first in the Epsilon series of rockets.

This failure has marked a setback for JAXA, in their competition for research and space missions. The reason is that in the US itself, there are now several private parties who have succeeded in launching rockets into space and even into lunar orbit.

JAXA, which at the time of launch made a live stream of the event, finally canceled it. Even a piece of video showing the failure on their Youtube channel, has now also been deleted.

It is not yet known when Japan and JAXA will re-launch their rockets for their newest space mission. But this could mean having to do it again in the next few years with the same type of rocket.