Japan’s rocket launch failure clouds space strategy outlook

Japan’s failure to launch its new flagship H3 rocket at the second attempt on Tuesday casts a long shadow over its strategy to increase its presence in the increasingly competitive fields of satellite launching and space exploration.

Considerable time may be needed to get to the bottom of the disastrous outcome, in which the rocket’s second-stage engine failed to ignite and was ordered to self-destruct minutes after liftoff at the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan’s Kagoshima Prefecture.

At a panel meeting of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on We...