NNA – A rocket engine exploded during a test in Japan on Friday but there were no injuries, an official at Japan#39;s Education, Science and Technology Ministry said.
The explosion of the Epsilon S engine at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) testing site is the latest in a series of failures that have deflated Japan#39;s space ambitions.
The explosion took place about a minute into the test of the second stage engine, the official said.
Television footage showed flames shooting out the side of a testing facility before the small building was engulfed in flames and the roof blew off.
JAXA#39;s new medium-lift H-3 rocket wasnbsp;orderednbsp;to self-destruct on its debut flight in March, when its second-stage engine did not ignite as planned. That followed thenbsp;failurenbsp;of the agency#39;s solid-fuel Epsilon-6 rocket in October.
Lunar transport startup ispacenbsp;(9348.T)nbsp;saw its Hakuto-R vehiclenbsp;crashnbsp;into the moon#39;s surface in April in an attempt at the first ever soft-landing by a private company.mdash;Reutersnbsp;
nbsp;
nbsp;
nbsp;
============R.H.