Tuesday 26/November/2024 – 10:56 AM
Japan’s space agency on Tuesday canceled a test of an Epsilon S rocket engine after it exploded and caught fire in a repeated failure likely to prompt the first launch. For the missile Beyond the target date of the end of next March.
An explosion at a space station in western Japan
According to the British Reuters news agency, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, announced that the combustion test led to the explosion of the second stage engine 49 seconds after ignition, causing a fire to break out at the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.
Takayuki Emoto, director of the Epsilon Project at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, said in press statements that the explosion caused damage to the facility, and the cause is still unclear, indicating that the accident leads to the disruption of the national space program.
Emoto added: We regret that we were not able to meet everyone’s expectations, but the bright side is that we discovered the problem in a ground test, before launching the flight, adding that it will likely take at least several months to investigate the cause and take the necessary measures.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has partnered with the Space Unit of Heavy Machinery Industry IHI (7013.T) to develop the Epsilon S rocket, the next generation in a series of small solid-fuel rockets.
The first flight of the Epsilon S aircraft was scheduled to take place by the end of the fiscal year until March 31, depending on the success of the engine test that took place this morning, according to the report.
The test took place after previous failures led to months of investigations, delaying space missions and satellite launch plans, Reuters reported.
The report pointed out that in July last year, the test of the Epsilon S engine failed due to thermal damage to its ignition systems, and this came after the failure of the launch of the previous generation Epsilon rocket in 2022.
