Japan may be licking their wounds right now, as they watched their newest rocket in 12 years fail to launch on Tuesday.
"The Epsilon rocket stopped during its automatic countdown sequence at 19 seconds and the launch was stopped automatically due to an anomaly in its positioning. Today's launch has been cancelled. We are currently looking into the cause," explained JAXA's Director of Public Affairs, Koji Terada, according to WTVY.com.
Reuters reports it is the second "setback" for the Epsilon rocket this month. JAXA, Japan's space agency, had to postpone the original launch date due to a computer glitch.
"This was the first flight and it was already postponed once and now will be postponed again," Yukihiro Kumagai, an analyst at Jefferies & Co securities in Tokyo, told Reuters.
The rocket fail was broadcasted live at Japan's Uchinoura launch. People watching the countdown on the Internet were very confused when nothing happened.
According to Reuters, JAXA later confirmed, "the launch was halted with 19 seconds to go. Japanese media said an 'irregularity' had been detected." It is unclear what caused the rocket to fail to launch.
"A three-stage rocket, the Epsilon - named for the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet - is 24.4 meters (80 feet) high, about half the size of Japan's workhorse H2A rocket. It weighs 91 tons and has been touted as a new, low-cost alternative," Reuters reports.
Though the failure was a big hit financially for Japan, it does not mean that they will give up on the rocket.
"Inevitably, this will raise some questions, but overall it is unlikely to have much influence," Kumagai said.
The next scheduled flight for the Epsilon isn't until 2015, according to Reuters.
Check out the video of the failed rocket launch below, and make sure to leave your thoughts about the story in the comment section.
