Posted on 03/13/2024 8:24:56 AM PDT by Red Badger
Japan’s Space One Kairos rocket exploded Wednesday during its first-ever launch.
Kairos was supposed to be the first rocket launched by a Japanese company to deliver its payload, a fallback government intelligence satellite, into Earth’s orbit, according to Reuters. Just seconds after lifting off at 11:01 am local-time, the rocket burst alive in a fiery explosion, fragments spewing into the launch site’s surrounding mountains of the Kii peninsula in western Japan, as seen from multiple angles shared across social media.
In some of the videos you can clearly hear alarm bells ringing as everything seems to go wrong. The 18-meter (59 ft) solid-fuel was apparently “interrupted” during its launch. No further information was shared on what caused the explosion, only that the situation is currently being investigated.
VIDEOS AT LINK....................
No injuries or deaths were reported as a result of the mishap. Fires that broke out from the wreckage were all extinguished promptly, local Gov. Shuhei Kishimoto told reporters. This is not the first issue to occur with the launch of the intelligence satellite. Space One was set to launch Kairos on Saturday but a ship entered a restricted area off the nearby coast, prompting a postponement of Monday’s botched attempt. The company is still hoping to be able to continue its development as a “space courier service” for domestic and international clientele, hoping to launch as many as 20 rockets by the latter half of the 2020s.
This is rocket surgery Ping!...................
If launching stuff into orbit was easy....everyone would be doing it.
Marvin Martian was impressed!
You just know this has to be extremely embarrassing to the Japanese....................
The explosion began at the middle of the rocket..............looks like possibly sabotage...........
Someone threw their wooden shoes into the works just before launch.
So, police are looking for a barefoot Dutch boy?...................
With a paintbrush...
Or, second stage failure. Pre- ignition. (PI? - is there a pill for that?)
And a wet finger.........................
If you stop the video at the moment of the failure, you will see that it starts at mid-rocket body...................
Looks like it was veering off coarse, possible mission abort?
Range Safety Destruct System likely engaged as the rocket canted beyond allowed limits.
Obviously a major misfunction.
Unscheduled disassembly.
Maybe. Maybe bad structure in the first stage propellant grain. That can cause excess pressure near the top of the grain.
Significant that this launch vehicle is entirely solid propellant.
Or first stage pressure dome failure. It appears that solid fuel was burning from both ends of the grounded stage.
Could also be a command destruct. Sure looked slewed right after liftoff but, they had to clear the canyon so that may have been commanded.
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