Space One had been planning Japan’s first private-sector orbital launch with the debut of its small satellite launcher — this was also to be the maiden flight from a new, dedicated, launch facility.
The maiden flight of the new launcher was initially scrubbed during two attempts on March 9 and rescheduled on March 13 at 1:01 AM JST (02:01 UTC). The rocket did launch from the pad but then quickly experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly several seconds later in the air, having reached an altitude of between 50 and 100 meters.
Debris from the stages fell within the spaceport grounds and to the west of the pad, leaving the pad and key infrastructure seemingly undamaged. The explosion appeared to begin at the interstage and was likely caused by the automated flight termination system, which will be clarified later when Space One completes its assessment – the launcher was expected to be heading south.