Japan rocket Kairos explodes seconds after launch

Space One’s ‘Kairos’ rocket burst into flames shortly after lift-off in western Japan on Wednesday.

 The explosion left a large plume of smoke in the air and sent fiery debris flying near the launchpad.

 The Tokyo start-up was racing to become Japan’s first private company to put a satellite into orbit.

 The rocket fragments fell into the mountains next to the launch site. The live stream shows a massive fire breaking out at their fall area, with a pillar of thick smoke. The cause of the failure is currently unknown.

The rocket carried a 100-kg governmental satellite for observation of Earth surface. In case of success, this would have become the first satellite launch, carried out entirely by a private Japanese company.