Taiwanese rocket fails to reach target in 1st foreign launch in Japan
Test flight in northern Japan falls short of 100 km mark in debut attempt abroad
ISTANBUL
A rocket launched by a Taiwanese company from Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido failed shortly after liftoff on Saturday, in the first attempt by a foreign firm to conduct a launch from Japanese territory.
The rocket lifted off at around 11.40 am local time (0240GMT), but failed to reach its intended altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles), Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. Video footage showed the rocket ascending briefly, then drifting before crashing near the launch site.
Although the rocket was expected to fall into the Pacific Ocean, its second stage instead landed within a 1.2-kilometer (0.74-mile) radius of the launch area. No injuries or property damage were reported.
The vehicle was developed by Taiwan-based TiSPACE and its Japanese subsidiary JTSpace, according to Taiwan News. The primary objective of the launch was to test the rocket’s engine performance.
Had the mission reached the 100-kilometer altitude mark, the rocket could have paved the way for launching Taiwanese satellites using domestically developed launch vehicles.
