A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying satellites into orbit had been aborted minutes after liftoff Wednesday, nine months after the company’s first launch attemp

Japan's Space One terminated the flight of its Kairos small rocket shortly after liftoff on Wednesday, marking the end of its second attempt in nine months to become the country's first company to deliver a satellite to space.

Space startups in Japan and India said on Tuesday they had agreed to jointly study using laser-equipped satellites to remove debris from orbit, an experimental approach to the increasingly imminent problem of orbital congestion.

A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying satellites into orbit had been aborted minutes after lift-off, nine months after the company’s first launch attempt ended in an explosion.