Epsilon (light class launch vehicle)

2022: Raketa destroyed during takeoff due to malfunction

On October 12, 2022, the Japanese Epsilon launch vehicle failed at launch. Operators ordered her to self-isolate minutes after takeoff. As it turned out later, problems arose in the process.

Epsilon-6 launched from the Uchinoura Cosmodrome on Kyushu Island, the most southwestern of Japan's main islands, around 9:50 a.m. The booster carried 8 satellites developed by private and public Raketas carrier, including universities. The Epsilon-6 rocket is 26 m long and weighs 95.6 tons, designed as an improved final stage in the Epsilon series.

Epsilon

According to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Epsilon rocket fell into the sea. There were no reports of property damage as a result of self-destruction. At a press conference on October 12, 2022, after a failed launch, the agency said the decision to send a self-destruct order came after the missile veered off its intended course. Space agency operators realized that the rocket would not be able to put satellites into orbit.

This event was the first unsuccessful rocket launch in Japan since November 2003, when the H2A rocket was deliberately destroyed shortly after launch, and dealt a blow to the country's space industry, which seeks to expand the use of commercial satellites for its launches.

There were no reports of injuries or material damage as a result of Epsilon self-destruction, a spokesman for the Ministry of Science said at a meeting of the task force in the Japanese space department. According to the space agency, the booster fell into the waters off the east coast of the Philippines and sank to the ocean floor, making the chances of its recovery slim. The space agency added that it will continue to investigate the causes of the disruption that led to the flight interruption and will create a task force to help with the investigation, which could delay plans to launch satellites for a year.^[1]

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