Japan's new medium-lift rocket failed on its debut flight in space on Tuesday after the launcher's second-stage engine did not ignite as planned, in a blow to its efforts to cut the cost of accessing space and compete against Elon Musk's SpaceX.
"Unlike the previous cancellation and postponement, this time it was a complete failure," said Hirotaka Watanabe, a professor at Osaka University with expertise in space policy.
Japan's first new rocket in three decades was carrying the ALOS-3, a disaster management land observation satellite, which was also equipped with an experimental infrared sensor designed to detect North Korean ballistic missile launches.said it was confirming the situation surrounding the rocket with JAXA and did not have an immediate comment.
A company spokesperson said earlier that it was also relying on the reliability of Japan's previous rockets to gain business. A successful launch on Tuesday would have put the Japanese rocket into space ahead of the planned launch later this year of the European Space Agency's new lower-cost Ariane 6 vehicle.
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