Kairos boom

[Snidely]

Kairos' Maiden Flight, Space One's launch from Kii Spaceport,
(Northern) Japan, only lasted a few seconds. The video stream showed
the clouds of smoke from the debris fire casting ominous shadows on the
pad {ominous is my contribution).

This rocket used 3 solid stages with a liquid-fueled kickstage. Solids
avoid the difficulty of building an orbital-class turbopump, but space
is still hard.

/dps

[Snidely]

Kairos' Maiden Flight, Space One's launch from Kii Spaceport, (Northern)
Japan,

Not so far north, just south of Osaka. I was thinking up towards
Sapporo, but that was a misunderstanding.

only lasted a few seconds. The video stream showed the clouds of
smoke from the debris fire casting ominous shadows on the pad {ominous is my
contribution).

NSF reports that the flight termination was used. The actual RUD was
not visible on the WTV stream; the rocket lifted off and went off the
first camera, which wasn't a tracking cam. The next view was from a
camera showing the debris cloud rising up from behind a hill. The view
went back to the first camera to show the fires on the ground, in the
ravine leading to the sea.

This rocket used 3 solid stages with a liquid-fueled kickstage. Solids avoid
the difficulty of building an orbital-class turbopump, but space is still
hard.

/dps

[The Running Man]

Post by Snidely
Kairos' Maiden Flight, Space One's launch from Kii Spaceport,
(Northern) Japan, only lasted a few seconds. The video stream showed
the clouds of smoke from the debris fire casting ominous shadows on the
pad {ominous is my contribution).
This rocket used 3 solid stages with a liquid-fueled kickstage. Solids
avoid the difficulty of building an orbital-class turbopump, but space
is still hard.
/dps
--
"That's a good sort of hectic, innit?"
" Very much so, and I'd recommend the haggis wontons."
-njm

I think it was simply poorly executed. We've had similar failures which were traced to the hydrophilic nature of the solid fuel. This resulted in the fuel becoming brittle and a huge surface area for the fuel to burn resulting in an explosion.

[Otto J. Makela]

Post by Snidely
NSF reports that the flight termination was used.

Indeed:

"The rocket terminated the flight after judging that the
achievement of its mission would be difficult," company
president Masakazu Toyoda said.
Space One did not specify what triggered self-destruction
after the first-stage engine ignited - or when the company would
launch the next Kairos - only pledging an investigation into the
explosion.
The company said that the launch is highly automated,
requiring only about a dozen ground staff, and that the rocket
self-destructs when it detects errors in its flight path, speed
or control system that could cause a crash that endangers people
on the ground.
-- https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/japans-space-one-counts-down-inaugural-kairos-rocket-launch-2024-03-12/

[The Running Man]

Post by Otto J. Makela

Post by Snidely
NSF reports that the flight termination was used.

"The rocket terminated the flight after judging that the
achievement of its mission would be difficult," company
president Masakazu Toyoda said.
Space One did not specify what triggered self-destruction
after the first-stage engine ignited - or when the company would
launch the next Kairos - only pledging an investigation into the
explosion.
The company said that the launch is highly automated,
requiring only about a dozen ground staff, and that the rocket
self-destructs when it detects errors in its flight path, speed
or control system that could cause a crash that endangers people
on the ground.
-- https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/japans-space-one-counts-down-inaugural-kairos-rocket-launch-2024-03-12/

How can it know that only 5 seconds after launch? I mean, the avionics can steer the rocket, right?

Could be a programming error in the FTS.

[Otto J. Makela]

Post by The Running Man
How can it know that only 5 seconds after launch? I mean,
the avionics can steer the rocket, right?
Could be a programming error in the FTS.

Could be. In a wider-view video I think you could see the rocket
beginning to veer to the side even within those 5 seconds,
which might indicate some kind of a systemic error.

[Snidely]

Post by Otto J. Makela

Post by The Running Man
How can it know that only 5 seconds after launch? I mean,
the avionics can steer the rocket, right?
Could be a programming error in the FTS.

Could be. In a wider-view video I think you could see the rocket
beginning to veer to the side even within those 5 seconds,
which might indicate some kind of a systemic error.
http://youtu.be/Fq0zDjQEIHE

Also, 5 seconds is plenty of time for a chamber pressure issue. Moern
FTS is more than just "off track".

/dps

[Snidely]

Post by Otto J. Makela

Post by The Running Man
How can it know that only 5 seconds after launch? I mean,
the avionics can steer the rocket, right?
Could be a programming error in the FTS.

Could be. In a wider-view video I think you could see the rocket
beginning to veer to the side even within those 5 seconds,
which might indicate some kind of a systemic error.
http://youtu.be/Fq0zDjQEIHE

Thanks for that link!

-d