Japanese space rocket ‘self-destructs’ after launch fails

A rocket, carrying eight satellites, launched by Japan on Wednesday failed to reach its set orbit, the country’s space agency said.

An Epsilon-6 rocket was blasted off from Uchinoura Space Center in the southwestern Kagoshima province at around 9.50 a.m. (0050GMT), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a statement.

However, around seven minutes later, the rocket “deviated from the target and … it could not be put into orbit around the earth,” the JAXA said.