Japan orders space rocket to self-destruct after first failed launch since 2003

 Japan orders space rocket to self-destruct after first failed launch since 2003

The unmanned rocket, designed to launch in three stages, was carrying several satellites into orbit on its sixth space mission.

Tokyo:

Japan's space agency said it sent a self-destruct order to its Epsilon rocket after a failed launch on Wednesday because of a problem that meant the craft could not take off safely.

The unmanned rocket, designed to launch in three stages, was carrying several satellites into orbit on its sixth space mission.

"The rocket cannot continue a safe flight, as it would pose a danger if it were to hit the ground," a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) official said in comments broadcast by the TBS television network.

"So we took measures to avoid such an incident, and we sent signals (to destroy the rocket)," he said, adding that information about the cause of the problem was not immediately available.

Public broadcaster NHK and other media outlets said it was Japan's first unsuccessful rocket launch since 2003.

A JAXA livestream of the launch from Uchinoura Space Center in the southern Kagoshima area was interrupted and presenters said there was a problem, without giving details.

The solid-fueled Epsilon rocket has been in service since 2013.

It is smaller than the country's previous liquid-fueled model, and is the successor to the solid-fuel "M-5" rocket which was retired in 2006 due to its higher cost.

According to a NASA article about the launch, one of the satellites being carried by the rocket, called RAISE-3, was in Earth orbit for at least a year.