Tokyo start-up Space One aimed to be the first private Japanese company to launch a satellite into orbit. The 18-meter-long solid-fuel Kairos rocket took off from the launch pad located in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan.
A few seconds after launch it exploded, turning into a fireball, generating an enormous blanket of black smoke that billowed around the site. The failure marks a setback for the Land of the Rising Sun, which is heavily involved in the considered profitable market for satellite launches.