Fire breaks out at Japan space agency's Tanegashima Center, no injuries reported

A major fire erupted Tuesday at a Japan space agency site as it tested a solid-fuel Epsilon S rocket, television footage showed.

There were no reports of any injuries in the incident in the remote Kagoshima region of southern Japan.

Towering balls of fire and white fumes rose from the Tanegashima Space Center, according to the footage from national broadcaster NHK.

“There was an abnormality during today’s combustion test. We are trying to assess what happened,” the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) told AFP in a statement.

“No injuries have been reported at this point. The cause is also under investigation.”

NHK says the fire happened during a combustion test that began at around 8:30 am (2330 GMT), with media stationed around 600 metres (yards) away.

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About 30 seconds later, a large explosion was heard, and what appeared to be something on fire flew toward the sea, NHK said.

The Sankei Shimbun reported that orange flames burst out from the rocket engine placed on a horizontal platform before the explosion.

Tuesday’s fire is not the first time JAXA has experienced setbacks in its rocket programmes.

In July 2023 one engine of an Epsilon S exploded during a test around 50 seconds after ignition.

That was one in a string of failures for the country’s space agency JAXA, including launch attempts for its next-generation H3 rocket.

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JAXA managed a successful blast-off in February this year for the H3, its new flagship rocket that has been mooted as a rival to SpaceX’s Falcon 9.

That followed Japan successfully landing in January an unmanned probe on the Moon – albeit at a crooked angle – making it just the fifth country to achieve a “soft landing” on the lunar surface.

In March a rocket made by a private Japanese company exploded seconds after launch.

Tokyo-based Space One’s 18-metre (60-foot) Kairos rocket blasted off in the coastal Wakayama region of western Japan, carrying a small government test satellite.

But around five seconds later, the solid-fuel rocket erupted in fire, sending white smoke billowing around the remote mountainous area as orange flames raged on the ground, live footage showed.

Burning debris fell onto the surrounding slopes as sprinklers began spraying water, in dramatic scenes watched by hundreds of spectators gathered at public viewing areas including a nearby waterfront.

Space One said at the time that it had taken the decision to “abort the flight” and details were being investigated.