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Japanese SPACE ONE KAIROS rotated violently after ignition and could not maintain normal flight attitude. Launch mission was terminated and launch failed

Japanese SPACE ONE KAIROS rotated violently after ignition and could not maintain normal flight attitude. Launch mission was terminated and launch failed

Accident Time:March 4, 2026 at 11:11 AM
Investigation Ongoing

Accident Description

At 11: 11 a.m. local time on March 5th, SPACE ONE, a Japanese commercial SPACE company, carried out the launch mission of KAIROS 3 at the Kii SPACE Launch Site in Kuomoto Town, Wakayama Prefecture. After the rocket was ignited and lifted off, it rotated violently and could not maintain the normal flight attitude. The ground control center immediately judged that it was difficult to achieve the mission goal, and started the flight interruption measure. The launch mission failed.

Timeline

  • Mar 5, 2026, 03:00 PM

    SPACEONE holds press conference

  • Mar 5, 2026, 03:30 PM

    The press conference said that the rocket was started 68.8 seconds after launch due to the unknown self-destruction program (FTS). Space One said this time that "the aircraft itself was flying normally", so the problem may not lie in the propulsion system.

Investigation Ongoing
The investigation is still in progress. Final report will be available upon completion.

If the information is incorrect or there are latest updates, please contact supervisor@spacelaunching.org