Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Japan was forced to blow up its new rocket during a failed launch on Tuesday, setting back efforts to crack a market led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Its space agency had to send a self-destruct command to the H3 rocket when its second-stage engine failed minutes after lift-off. Observers say it is a significant setback for Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa). The government called the test failure ‘extremely regrettable.’ The H3 rocket is the first medium-lift rocket designed by Japan in three decades. It has been presented as a cheaper alternative to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 for launching commercial and government satellites into Earth’s orbit.” (03/07/23)