A large fire broke out on Tuesday, November 26, at a facility of the Japanese space agency while it was testing a solid-fuel Epsilon S rocket, according to images from the public television channel NHK.
Fireballs and white smoke rose around 8:30 local time (00:30 in Paris) from the Tanegashima space center, according to these images.
A combustion test
Contacted by Agence France Presse, Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) officials could not immediately be reached.
According to NHK, the fire occurred during a test burn, which was attended by media stationed about 600 meters away.
About 30 seconds into the test, a loud explosion was heard and what appeared to be a burning object flew into the sea, NHK reported. The Sankei newspaper reported that orange flames erupted from the rocket motor placed on a horizontal platform before the explosion.
Source: BFM TV
