Japan’s new rocket fails to launch after ignition problem

Japan’s next-generation rocket failed to launch on Friday after an apparent ignition problem, the national space agency said.

The H3 rocket -- the successor to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s H-IIA model, which debuted in 2001 -- was meant to launch mid-morning from Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.

But “it appears that we failed to ignite the two solid rocket boosters, after successfully igniting the main liquid engines,” JAXA spokesman Nobuyoshi Fujimoto told AFP.

TV footage showed the spacecraft sitting motionless on its launch pad, even as white smoke emerged from its main engines, suggesting a successful first ignition.