Japan orders destruction of next-gen rocket after launch failure in blow to country’s space ambitions

Launcher’s second-stage engine did not ignite leaving for ‘no possibility of achieving the mission’

Japan’s first new rocket in three decades was ordered to self-destruct in what is being perceived as a blow for the country’s space business ambitions.

While Japan’s next-gen H3 rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima spaceport as planned, the launcher’s second-stage engine did not ignite, leading to officials sending a self-destruction signal.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said it hoped to investigate and better understand what went wrong with the new medium-lift rocket.

“A destruct command has been transmitted to H3 around 10.52am (Japan Standard Time), because there was no possibility of achieving the mission,” said Jaxa’s statement on Tuesday.

H3’s destruction also reportedly destroyed its payload disaster management satellite ALOS-3, which had sensors to detect North Korean ballistic missile launches.

The nearly 60-metre-tall rocket’s builder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries hoped a successful launch would win it more business in the global launch market dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

H3’s cost per launch was touted to be half that of its predecessor H-II.

With a lower-cost engine using 3D-printed parts, H3 was expected to make Japan’s space launch business more competitive.

The rocket is reportedly designed to launch government and commercial satellites, as well as to carry supplies to the International Space Station.

The rocket had previously failed to launch on 17 February due to a main engine malfunction stopping the ignition signal from reaching its side booster.

“In space, the difference between success and failure is extremely small! Also, launching to space is and remains hard!,” tweeted Nasa’s former head of science Thomas Zurbuchen, following the launch failure.

“This will have a serious impact on Japan’s future space policy, space business, and technological competitiveness,” Hirotaka Watanabe, a space policy expert at Osaka University, told Reuters, adding that the latest launch was “a complete failure”.