Another setback for Japan’s JAXA space agency: an ignition problem prevented the launch of its new launch vehicle on Friday morning. According to the information, the H3 rocket should take off from the Tanegashima Space Center in the southwest of the country and launch a satellite into space.
Television footage (see video above) showed white smoke from the engines, indicating a successful initial burn of the liquid propulsion systems. But the rocket that was supposed to launch the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-3 (ALOS-3) into orbit remained on the launch pad.
Rocket engines did not fire properly
It was apparently not possible to ignite the two solid rocket motors, JAXA spokesman Nobuyoshi Fujimoto told AFP news agency. The space agency now wants to postpone the start again until the error is found.
The start has already been postponed several times
The H3 missile, a successor to the H-IIA type developed in 2001, is designed for more frequent commercial launches and is said to be more cost-effective and reliable than the older models. Their launch has already been postponed several times.
Friday’s incident is the second setback for the Japanese space agency in a few months. In October, an “Epsilon” launch vehicle should launch satellites into space. However, due to problems with the propulsion system, the agency had to order the missile to self-destruct shortly after launch. This was JAXA’s first false start since 2003.
Source: Krone
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