Japan launches rocket carrying asteroid probe

TOKYO — Japan on Wednesday launched a rocket carrying a space probe destined for a distant asteroid, just weeks after a European spacecraft’s historic landing on a comet.

The H-IIA rocket blasted off from Tanegashima Space Center in the south of the country at 1:22 p.m. after two delays due to bad weather.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sent the probe, Hayabusa2, on a six-year mission.

- japantoday.com