Fire in space center, Japan canceled launch on ISS

On September 11, a fire broke out at the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, prompting the country to cancel plans to launch unmanned spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).

Heavy industry company Mitsubishi is planning to launch an H-2B rocket with the HTV-8 supply vessel of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency at 6:33 am 11-9 local time, to provide approximately 5.3 tons of supplies for astronauts working at the ISS, including food, water, batteries and equipment needed for the experiments.

The rocket carried the spacecraft HTV-8 on the launch pad at the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on September 10, 2019 - (Photo: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries).

At Tanegashima Space Center, there is only one launcher suitable for launching H-2B missiles. Atsutoshi Tamura, a director of Mitsubishi's heavy industry company, directed the launch of the HTV-8 ship, confirming the fire broke out at 3:05 am right at the foot of this launch pad, almost like an air vent designed for gas. Emission of the engine and the flame released when launching the rocket.

Heavy industry company Mitsubishi said it decided to cancel the launch to check whether the H-2B missile was damaged by the fire. According to the company, there were no signs of an anomaly when the rocket was launched into the 10-9 pm launch pad and the potential for fuel leakage was being verified.

Japan's space exploration agency said it was the first time it had to delay launching missiles because of the fire, and confirmed that the ISS now had enough food as well as supplies, equipment, and astronauts will not be affected by the delay of the launch of HTV-8.