Japan's Epsilon-S solid-fuel rocket exploded during an engine trial at a testing site

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The explosion took place about a minute into the test of the second stage engine, the official said.

Japan had to self-destruct the latest H3 rocket as mission fails

 

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Japan's Launching A Giant Net Into Orbit To Scoop Up Space Junk (video fr)

Something must be done to deal with the estimated 100 million bits of man-made space junk circling the planet, and Japan is taking the lead. But can we do? Shoot it with a laser? Invent Wall-E-like robots to collect it? Nah… let’s just blast a big net into space.


Next month, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) will do just that. Having teamed up with a company that manufactures fishing equipment, Jaxa developed a wire net nearly 300 metres long but just a foot wide that will be launched into orbit. Once it’s unravelled, the net will generate a magnetic field that will theoretically attract nearby space debris.