JAPAN DESTROYS NEW ROCKET AT LAUNCH AFTER IGNITION FAILURE

Japan’s space agency intentionally destroyed a new H3 rocket minutes after its launch Tuesday because the ignition failed for the second stage of the country’s first new rocket series in more than two decades.

Coming three weeks after an aborted launch due to a separate glitch, the H3’s failure was a setback for Japan’s space program — and possibly for its missile detection program — and a disappointment for space fans who were rooting for Tuesday’s retrial.

The H3 rocket with a white head blasted off and soared into the blue sky from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan as fans and local residents cheered. It followed its planned trajectory and the second stage separated as designed, but the ignition for it failed, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

JAXA officials apologized for the failure, and said it sent a command to destroy the rocket about 14 minutes after liftoff as there was no hope for it to complete its mission.

Yasuhiro Funo, JAXA director for launch implementation, said the second stage and its payload fell into the deep sea off the eastern coast of the Philippines. He said the rocket, which was not going to enter the targeted orbit while carrying a lot of fuel, was unsafe and had to be destroyed.