Taiwanese rocket fails to achieve Japan's first foreign launch
TiSpace, through its Japanese unit jtSPACE, tried to reach outer space 100km above the Earth's surface on the inaugural flight of its 12m, hybrid-fuelled rocket VP01 in a launch from Japan's Hokkaido Spaceport.
The rocket lifted off at 11.40am (2.40am GMT), but within a minute its trajectory turned wobbly and it went into freefall, footage from Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed.
"We are examining the situation of the flight," a spokesperson for Space Cotan, the Japanese company operating the Hokkaido Spaceport, said after the launch attempt.
The rocket did not carry a satellite, although Space Cotan has said its success would be a step toward building a satellite-launching vehicle.
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