Japanese rocket motor explodes during test, dealing blow to Japan's aerospace industry

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

The Epsilon S engine explosion at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) test site in northern Japan is a further blow to the country’s space ambitions, following a series of failures earlier this year.

According to statements to Naoya Takegami, from the Ministry of Science and Technology, that international agencies released images of the testing site, in the northern prefecture of Akita, which was engulfed in flames and caused a huge column of smoke.

“So far we have not received any reports of injuries” from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which is investigating the incident, Takegami said.

The explosion took place approximately one minute after the second stage engine test, said the official.

Television footage showed flames shooting out of the side of a test facility before the entire small building engulfed in flames and the roof was blown off.

Japan’s space program has suffered a series of setbacks recently., including the failure of its medium-lift rocket on its debut flight in March, when its second-stage engine failed to fire as planned. Another launch was aborted a month earlier.

Although the Japanese aerospace program is one of the most important in the world, it has accumulated significant setbacks in recent months.

The second attempt to launch its next-generation H3 rocket failed in March, following on from the failed liftoff of the Epsilon in October.

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