Event: TOKYO

Space One said Friday that it would launch the No. 3 unit of its Kairos small rocket carrying artificial satellites on Sunday morning. The Tokyo-based space development startup canceled the initially scheduled launch on Wednesday, citing a forecast for unfavorable weather conditions. According to Space One, the Kairos No. 3 unit is set to lift off from the company’s Spaceport Kii launch site in the town of Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, between around 11 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. on Sunday. The rocket will carry five satellites, including one developed by the Taiwan Space Agency. This is the company’s third rocket launch attempt, following the failures of the Kairos No. 1 unit in March 2024 and the No. 2 unit in December that year. If the planned launch succeeds, it will mark the first successful launch of a rocket developed entirely by a private company in Japan.

TOKYO, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and transportation systems and businesses severely disrupted as Typhoon Lan lashed central Japan's Pacific coast after making landfall early Monday. The Typhoon, with an atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals at its center and packing powerful winds of up to 198 kph, hit the Shizuoka Prefecture region of central Japan on the main island of Honshu at around 3:00 a.m. local time. According to local news reports, the 21st typhoon of the season left a trail of destruction, with rivers bursting their banks and landslides engulfing homes. The western region of Wakayama Prefecture saw as much as 800 mm of rain through a 48-hour period to Sunday. According to the weather agency here, Mie Prefecture was also hard hit, with the powerful storm dumping 700 mm of rain through the same period, which also caused extensive flooding in parts of Nara Prefecture. A 63-year-old man was killed after strong winds brought down scaffolding at a construction site in the city of Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. In Yamaguchi Prefecture, in western Japan, a 70-year-old man died after being forced to dive into the sea following his boat's engine failing. In addition, a mudslide hitting a house in Wakayama Prefecture has left its occupant missing, according to local media reports. Operations will be halted until Monday evening at Toyota Motor Corp.'s factories in multiple prefectures, including Iwate, Miyagi, and Gifu, local media quoted company representatives as saying. Japan's two major airline carriers, Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co., canceled 350 flights on Sunday, and 170 flights on Monday. Some 43,000 passengers were affected by the cancellations. Shinkansen bullet train services were suspended along parts of the Tokaido line, and some major arterial highways were also forced to be closed. Evacuation orders were issued…