TOKYO — (AP) — A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying satellites into orbit had been aborted minutes after liftoff Wednesday and destroyed itself again, nine months after the company’s first launch attempt ended in an explosion.
Space One’s Kairos No. 2 rocket lifted off from a coastal site in the mountainous prefecture of Wakayama in central Japan.
The company said it had aborted the flight after concluding that it was unlikely to complete its mission.
“We are very sorry that we could not achieve as far as a final stage of the mission,” Space One President Masakazu Toyoda told a news conference Wednesday. “We don’t consider this a failure because we are getting valuable data that will help our pursuit toward a next challenge.”
He said he hoped to find the cause to address the problems as soon as possible to achieve a success next time.
Company …