Japan’s space agency said on Wednesday that flight data analysis of the failed H3 rocket launch showed that a device had abnormal voltage levels around the time the second-stage engine was supposed to ignite.
Japan’s new flagship H3 rocket, the successor to the country’s reliable H2A rocket, blasted off on Tuesday but was ordered to self-destruct minutes later after the vehicle’s second-stage engine failed to ignite.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said that it confirmed that the rocket had sent a signal to its second-stage engine to ignite and the engine had received the signal, but a section of the device needed for ignition had abnormal voltage levels, Xinhua news agency reported.
The agency reported its initial findings to a government panel of experts on the day, adding that it will investigate the cause of the failure in detail and take corrective measures.
