The Japanese space agency's Epsilon rocket failed after it was launched on Wednesday, Kyodo News and other domestic media reported.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sent a destruction order signal to the rocket after detecting trouble, Kyodo said. Public broadcaster NHK said the signal was sent after JAXA determined that rocket was not able to fly safely.
It was the first failure of a major Japanese rocket launch since 2003, and the first of the Epsilon series of rockets, NHK said.
(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by David Dolan)
