A Japanese startup’s second attempt to launch its solid-fuel rocket ended in chaos, with Kairos spiraling downwards a few minutes after lift off. The launch failure marks another setback for Japan’s private space industry after a series of explosive rocket attempts earlier this year.

The Kairos rocket now has two launches under its belt, both of them failures. In March 2024, Space One lost its first Kairos rocket shortly after it left the launch pad when its flight termination system detected a velocity anomaly. No personnel or facilities were harmed in the explosion, but debris was strewn throughout the launch site.

Japan's Space One terminated the flight of its Kairos small rocket shortly after liftoff on Wednesday, marking the end of its second attempt in nine months to become the country's first company to deliver a satellite to space with a privately-developed rocket.

The Japanese company Space One failed for a second time Wednesday to launch its Kairos rocket when it went out of control about two minutes into the flight. The lift-off had been postponed twice by weather conditions.

A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying satellites into orbit had been aborted minutes after liftoff Wednesday, nine months after the company’s first launch attempt ended in an explosion.

S/ Watanabe Mikiya, NNN Reporter / Carrying the thoughts of many people, Kairos 2 has just been launched.The Kairos 2

A start-up aiming to become Japan’s first private firm to put a satellite into orbit postponed a rocket launch for the second day running on Sunday, local media said, after its first try ended in a mid-air explosion.

Japanese space company Space One aborted the second launch attempt of its Kairos No. 2 rocket on Wednesday. The flight was aborted a few minutes after launch, nine months after the first failed attempt.