‘Epsilon’-Japan’s new, cheaper rocket successfully launched

The three-stage Epsilon lifted off from a space centre on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu

Japan successfully launched a new Epsilon’ rocket Saturday that it hopes will be a cheaper and more efficient way of sending satellites into space.

The three-stage Epsilon lifted off from a space centre on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu, following a two-week postponement. An earlier launch last month was aborted 19 seconds before a planned liftoff due to a computer glitch.

About an hour after the liftoff, its payload the SPRINT—A, the first space telescope designed to observe other planets was successfully put into orbit, said Mari Harada, a spokeswoman at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.

The liftoff was broadcast live on television networks, with footage showing a white, pencil-shaped rocket shot into the sky from the launch pad after spurting gray smoke and orange flash.

The agency declared it was a success.