Japanese engineers were forced to blow up a massive rocket around 14 minutes after a successful initial launch due to a second-stage engine failure, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The 187-foot-tall H3 rocket was the result of a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and builder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, according to Reuters.
A live-streamed broadcast showed a successful initial launch from the Tanegashima space port in southern Japan, the outlet reported. The rocket managed to reach space, but a second-stage engine, crucial to the continuance of the H3’s journey, did not ignite.
14 minutes into the flight, engineers were forced to initiate the self-destruct command and blow up the rocket, according to Reuters. “It was decided the rocket could not not complete its mission,” JAXA said in a statement, adding that the debris likely fell off the eastern coast of the Philippines.
Japanese Science and Technology minister Keiko Nagaoka announced the initiation of an investigation into the launch’s “very regrettable” failure, according to Reuters. (RELATED: Sen. Mike Lee Torches Key World Ally For ‘Unjustly’ Imprisoning Navy Lieutenant)
Japan’s space agency, JAXA, has intentionally destroyed a rocket after it failed on its debut flight into space.
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Designed as a more cost-effective solution than SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for the transport of commercial and government satellites to space, the H3 was the first Japanese-developed medium-lift rocket in three decades, according to the BBC.
The H3 rocket utilized lower-cost engines partially constructed with 3D-printed parts, Reuters reported. JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa described the H3 as “extremely important to ensure [Japanese] access to space and to ensure [they] are competitive.”
Hirotaka Watanabe of Osaka University said the failure “will have a serious impact on Japan’s future space policy, space business and technological competitiveness,” according to Reuters.