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Japan space agency rocket engine explodes during test

By
Reuters
Published July 14, 2023, 6:58 a.m. ET

A rocket engine exploded during a test in Japan on Friday but there were no injuries, an official at Japan’s Education, Science and Technology Ministry said.

The explosion of the Epsilon S engine at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) testing site is the latest in a series of failures that have deflated Japan’s space ambitions.

The explosion took place about a minute into the ♋test of the second stage engin🔥e, the official said.

Smoke rises following the explosion of a rocket engine during a test in Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture, Japan, on July 14, 2023.
Smoke rises following the explosion of a rocket engine during a test in Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture, Japan, on July 14, 2023. via REUTERS
The explosion happened to the Epsilon S engine at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) testing site in Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture, Japan, on July 14, 2023.
The explosion happened to the Epsilon S engine at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) testing site in Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture, Japan, on July 14, 2023. via REUTERS

Televisio൲n footage showed flames shooting out the side of a testing facility b🍒efore the small building was engulfed in flames and the roof blew off.

JAXA’s new medium-lift H-3 rocket was ordered to self-destruct on its debut flight in March, when its second-stage engine did not ignite as planned.

That followed the failure of the agency’s solid-fuel Epsilon-6 rocket in October.

The explosion marks the latest in a series of failures that have deflated Japan's space ambitions.
The explosion marks the latest in a series of failures that have deflated Japan’s space ambitions. JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images

Lunar transport startup ispace saw its Hakuto-R vehicle crash into the moon’s surface in April in an attempt at the first ever soft-landing by a private company.