"Cairo" destroyed

Japanese company’s satellite launch fails

The "Cairo" launch vehicle takes off - shortly afterwards it self-destructs.(Bild: AP)

The satellite launch of a private company in Japan has failed with the explosion of the launch vehicle. As Japanese media reported on Wednesday, shortly after the launch of the 18-meter-long "Cairo" launcher, the self-destruction was triggered for an initially unknown reason.

The Tokyo-based company Space One wanted to be the first private company to send a satellite into orbit from Japan's commercial spaceport Space Port Kii in Kushimoto in the western prefecture of Wakayama. The reason for the failed launch is being investigated.

Failure shortly after Jaxa success
In contrast, Japan's state space agency Jaxa recently succeeded in launching the new H3 launcher after an initial failure. The rocket lifted off last month from Japan's state-owned Tanegashima spaceport in the southwest of the Far Eastern island kingdom with a dummy satellite and two tiny satellites on board.

The launch vehicle exploded shortly after take-off in Kushimoto.(Bild: AP)

With the new launch, the space agency Jaxa wanted to dispel doubts about the reliability of the new launch vehicle. During a first launch attempt last year, the propulsion system of the second rocket stage failed to ignite. As the mission had no prospect of success, self-destruction was triggered shortly after lift-off.

The H3 is the successor to the reliable H2A rocket and Japan's first new development of its own large launch vehicle in around 30 years. The H3 is considered to be more powerful, cheaper and safer than the H2A, which is to be decommissioned.