Japan’s planned launch of its Epsilon rocket was scrapped a mere 19 seconds before liftoff on Tuesday.
The rocket experienced a glitch as it was nearing liftoff from Uchinoura Space Center, Space.com reports.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced “Today’s launch was cancelled,” on Twitter. “More details will be reported as further information becomes available.”
JAXA later stated that the issue was “because an automatic stop alarm was issued as an attitude abnormality was detected 19 seconds prior to the liftoff time.” No definite cause for the alarm has been determined.
According to Reuters, this is the second issue for the Epsilon rocket this month. The last launch was postponed due to a computer glitch.
An analyst at Jefferies & Co securities in Tokyo, Yukihiro Kumagai said, “This was the first flight and it was already postponed once and now will be postponed again.”
No one is sure yet, how much this latest setback will have on Japan’s attempts to participate in the international satellite launch industry. “Inevitably, this will raise some questions, but overall it is unlikely to have much influence,” Yukihiro noted.
The Epsilon is a three-stage rocket that was supposed to deposit a telescope into space for solar system observation. The hope is for the rocket to be a low-cost alternative to other rockets.
image: Wikimedia Commons
