• Japan’s H3 rocket failed due to an ignition issue.
• Marking the first rocket failure since 2003.
• JAXA will investigate and reschedule the launch.

The national space agency said Friday’s launch of Japan’s next-generation rocket failed due to an ignition issue.

The H3 rocket, JAXA’s 2001 H-IIA model’s successor, was scheduled to launch mid-morning from Tanegashima Space Centre in southwestern Japan.

“It appears that we failed to light the two solid rocket boosters, after successfully starting the main liquid engines,” JAXA spokesman Nobuyoshi Fujimoto told AFP.

News footage showed the spaceship sitting stationary on its launch pad as white smoke from its main engines indicated a successful ignition.

Fujimoto said the agency would investigate and reschedule the Friday launch, which has been postponed multiple times.

The H3 rocket was designed for more commercial launches, cost efficiency, and reliability.

JAXA has had other launch failures.

The agency had to self-destruct its solid-fuel Epsilon rocket after takeoff in October. It launched satellites for technology demonstrations.

Japan’s first rocket failure since 2003.

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