We’re always told that rocket science is the hardest form of science out there and a raft of explosions on the launch pad in recent months makes me inclined to agree. Now, a Japanese rocket engine test has ended in disaster after the engines of a new smaller spacecraft exploded during a combustion test in southwest Japan.
Engineers at Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center in the southwest of the country were testing the engine for a flagship rocket, reports ABC News. During a combustion test on Tuesday, the rocket engine burst into flames in spectacular style, which destroyed the prototype and damaged the testing facility.
The failure of the engine marks the second time the new propulsion system has gone up in flames, with an earlier test of Japan’s new rocket systems resulting in a similarly fiery disaster. As ABC News reports:
The second failure in a row raises concern about the progress of the Epsilon S rocket, whose debut flight is expected by March.
An Epsilon project manager, Takayuki Imoto, told an online press conference from Tanegashina that the explosion occurred 49 seconds into the planned two-minute test, causing fire and scattering broken parts of the engine and damaging the facility.
“We are very sorry to have failed to live up to expectations,” Imoto said. He said the cause of the explosion was still under investigation. Project staff are trying to recover broken pieces to analyze and determine the cause as soon as possible to minimize the delay of the program, Imoto said.
Engineers at the Tanegashima Space Center will now have to spend “months” repairing the facility following the fire before another test can even be planned. The issues could severely delay the rocket’s first launch, which is planned for March 2025. When the craft finally does take to the skies, it could launch a Vietnamese satellite into orbit, reports Space.com.
The failure and subsequent delay to the launch caps off a torrid few years for Japan’s space program. This marks the second engine failure during a test for the Japanese space agency and comes just two years after another Japanese rocket failed during a test flight.
On top of that, the country’s mission to the moon was thwarted earlier this year when the lunar landed touched down on the surface of the moon upside down. At least the country’s ambitions to explore the surface of the moon could still be saved by SpaceX.