Japanese private rocket fails to reach space

A rocket launched by a Japanese aerospace startup on Sunday morning failed to reach outer space, local media reported.

The rocket liftoff at around 5:15 a.m. today from the town of Taiki in Japan’s Hokkaido.

According to the Japanese the Mainichi newspaper, the Interstellar Technologies Inc.’s MOMO-5 rocket fell into the sea without reaching space due to engine failure.

Part of the engine was damaged during the launch and the fuselage could no longer maintain its orientation, the company said. The rocket reached an altitude of about 11 kilometers before falling into waters some 4 km off the launch site.

“It was a disappointing result, but there were no major problems except for the damaged (engine) part. We would like to take necessary steps toward the next (launch),” Takahiro Inagawa, president of the company, said in an online press conference quoted by the Mainichi.

Meanwhile, the founder of the Interstellar Technologies Takafumi Horie said that the rocket flew perfectly part of the way.

The company which was founded in 2013, in May last year became the first private Japanese company to send a rocket to the edge of space, about 100 kilometers above the Earth. It was aiming to reach space for the second time and gain momentum in commercialization.