Japan's first private-sector rocket launch attempt has exploded shortly after takeoff
Tokyo (AP/PTI): A rocket touted as Japan's first from the private sector to go into orbit exploded shortly after takeoff Wednesday, livestreamed video showed.
Online video showed the rocket called Kairos blasting off from Wakayama Prefecture, central Japan, a mountainous area filled with trees, but exploding midair within seconds.
A huge plume of smoke engulfed the area, and flames shot up in some spots. The video then showed spurts of water shot toward that spot in an effort to put out the blaze.
Tokyo-based startup Space One, behind the rocket launch, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The launch was already delayed several times, with the last postponement coming Saturday, after a ship was spotted in a risk area, according to Japanese media reports.
If it had succeeded, Space One would have been the first private company to put a rocket into orbit.
Tokyo-based Space One was set up in 2018, with investments from major Japanese companies, including Canon Electronics, IHI, Shimizu and major banks.
There was no immediate reports of injuries or other damage.
Japan's main space exploration effort is led by the government's NASDA, which stands for The National Space Development Agency of Japan, this nation's equivalent of NASA of the US.
BREAKING: Space One rocket explodes during launch from southern Japan pic.twitter.com/8IWiu2bRKa
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Siddaramaiah holds dharna protesting Centre's 'injustice' in release of drought relief to Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar along with several ministers and legislators on Sunday staged a dharna here, alleging injustice done to the state by the union government while releasing the drought relief funds.
Holding 'Chombu', the round water pot symbolising emptiness and deception, the leaders charged the Centre with "cheating" Karnataka by not releasing adequate relief to face acute drought, the kind of which was not witnessed in the past several decades.
They held the symbolic dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the premises of "Vidhana Soudha", which houses the Legislature and Secretariat.
The state government has declared 226 out of the total 236 Taluks in Karnataka as drought-hit and said there was a crop loss in 48 lakh hectares of land.
According to Siddaramaiah, against the demand for Rs 18,171 crore for drought relief, the union government ordered release of only Rs 3,454 crore, that too after the state approached the Supreme Court.
The amount was not even a quarter of the state's demand, he noted.
#WATCH | Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Congress MP and general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala along with several other leaders stage a protest against the central government over the release of more funds for drought relief, at Mahatma Gandhi Statue in… pic.twitter.com/cppcWpkohm
— ANI (@ANI) April 28, 2024
