Japan space agency rocket engine explodes during test

A rocket engine exploded during a test in Japan on Friday but there were no injuries, an official at Japan’s Education, Science and Technology Ministry said. The explosion of the Epsilon S engine at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) testing site is the latest in a series of failures that have deflated Japan’s space ambitions. The explosion took place about a minute into the test of the second stage engine, the official said.