Japan to delay new rocket launch due to system malfunction

Japan will postpone the launch of its new flagship rocket carrying a ground monitoring satellite due to a problem with its flight system, the country's space agency announced Monday.

The launch will be delayed at least until February 15, said the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

It was announced after a system inspection found the rocket likely would not fly properly if the launch went ahead as scheduled, local media reported.

JAXA expected the fix for the issue with its H3 rocket to take a few days, postponing the debut launch of the H2A rocket's replacement for a second time.

On January 26, the delayed launch of JAXA's No.46 H2A rocket, which placed a government intelligence-gathering radar satellite into orbit, pushed back the agency's initial plan to launch the H3 rocket into space on February 12 by one day.

The H3 rocket will be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in Kagoshima, the country's southwestern prefecture.