Japan's Space One Kairos rocket explodes on inaugural flight

Kairos, a small, solid-fuel rocket made by Japan's Space One, exploded shortly after its inaugural launch on Wednesday as the firm tried to become the first Japanese company to put a satellite in orbit. The 18-meter (59 ft) rocket exploded seconds after lifting off at 11:01 a.m. (0201 GMT), leaving behind a large cloud of smoke, a fire, fragments of the rocket and firefighting water sprays near the launch pad, visible on local media livestreams. Space One said it "terminated the flight" after the launch on the tip of mountainous Kii peninsula in western Japan and was investigating flight data….