A large fire broke out on Tuesday at a Japan space agency site while testing a solid-fuel Epsilon S rocket. The incident took place at the Tanegashima Space Centre in the remote Kagoshima region of southern Japan. 

Footage from Japan's national broadcaster NHK showed large flames and white smoke rising from the site. However, no injuries were reported. "There was an abnormality during today's combustion test. We are trying to assess what happened," the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) told AFP in a statement. "No injuries have been reported at this point. The cause is also under investigation."

According to NHK, the fire broke out during a combustion test at approximately 8:30 am (2330 GMT), with media personnel positioned about 600 meters away. A big explosion was heard about 30 seconds later, and what looked like something on fire flew toward the sea, said NHK. The Sankei Shimbun reported that orange flames erupted from the rocket engine placed on a horizontal platform before it exploded.

This fire on Tuesday was not the first setback for Japan's space agency JAXA. In July 2023, one of the engines of an Epsilon S rocket exploded about 50 seconds after ignition during a test. This was part of a series of failures for JAXA, including issues with launching its next-generation H3 rocket. In February this year, JAXA successfully launched its new H3 rocket, which is seen as a potential competitor to SpaceX's Falcon 9.

Earlier in January, JAXA successfully landed an unmanned probe on the Moon, becoming the fifth country to perform a "soft landing" there, despite the probe landing at a slight angle.

In March, a private Japanese company, Space One, faced a setback when its 18-meter Kairos rocket exploded just seconds after launch in Wakayama, western Japan. The rocket was carrying a small government test satellite. However, live footage revealed that the solid-fuel rocket burst into flames approximately five seconds later, causing orange flames to blaze on the ground and white smoke to billow throughout the isolated mountainous terrain. Hundreds of people gathered at public viewing locations, including a nearby waterfront, to witness the dramatic scenes as burning debris dropped down the surrounding hills and sprinklers sprayed water.

Subsequently, Space One annouced that it had decided to "abort the flight" and was looking into the specifics.