Shortly after takeoff on Wednesday, Japan’s Space One ended the flight of its small rocket, the Kairos, ending its second effort in nine months to become the nation’s first firm to launch a satellite into space.
Even though the government wants to promote the local space sector and aims to launch 30 rockets a year by the early 2030s, this is the latest in a string of recent setbacks for Japanese rocket development.
In what they anticipate will be a $52 billion space economy, authorities are working to establish Japan as Asia’s space transportation hub.
In an email to media, Space One stated that “the achievement of its mission would be difficult” and thus ended the second Kairos journey, which lasted only roughly ten minutes.
