On its sixth space mission, the unmanned rocket, which can launch in three stages, was putting a number of satellites into orbit.

Because of the danger it would pose if it crashed to the ground, the rocket couldn't continue to fly safely, a JAXA official said in remarks carried by the TBS television network.

He explained, 'So we took precautions to avoid such a catastrophe and we transmitted the signal (to destroy the rocket),' but added that the reason for the issue was not yet known.

It was the first unsuccessful rocket launch in Japan since 2003, according to the public broadcaster NHK and other media agencies.

Presenters cut off a JAXA broadcast of the launch from the southern Kagoshima region's Uchinoura Space Center and stated there had been a problem without going into further information. The Epsilon rocket with solid fuel has been in use since 2013.

It is a replacement for the solid-fuel 'M-5' rocket, which was phased out in 2006 because of its high cost, and is smaller than the nation's previous liquid-fueled type. According to a NASA report on the launch, one of the satellites being carried by the rocket, known as RAISE-3, had been scheduled to orbit the Earth for at least a year.

It was the first launch failure of a significant Japanese rocket since 2003 and the first rocket of the Epsilon class. The space agency had also offered a live stream of the launch from the southern Kagoshima region's Uchinoura Space Center, but it was cut off. The presenters mentioned that there have been some issues but provided no further information.