A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying satellites into orbit had been aborted minutes after liftoff Wednesday, nine months after the company’s first launch attempt ended in an explosion. Space One’s Kairos No. 2 rocket lifted off from a site in the mountainous prefecture of Wakayama in central Japan. The company said it had aborted the flight after concluding that it was unlikely to complete its mission. Space One aims to be Japan’s first company to put a satellite into orbit, hoping to boost to Japan’s lagging space industry with a small rocket for an affordable space transport business.
