Japan Orders Rocket Carrying 8 Satellites to ‘Self-Destruct’ After Failed Launch

Japan's new solid-fuel rocket lifts off from the launch pad at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Uchinoura Space Center in Kimotsuki, Kagoshima prefecture, on Japan's southern island of Kyushu on Sept. 14, 2013. Jiji Press/AFP/file/Getty Images

Japan’s space agency on Wednesday sent a “self-destruction” signal to its Epsilon-6 rocket shortly after liftoff, the first such command issued by Japan since November 2003, according to local reports.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said it sent a destruction order signal to the rocket just minutes after launch when it detected the rocket had deviated from its intended trajectory, reported Kyodo News.