A rocket has exploded seconds after lift-off in northern Japan.

The MOMO-2 rocket, developed by start-up company Interstellar Technologies, was launched early on Saturday in Taiki on Hokkaido, which is Japan’s northern-most island.

The rocket was designed to reach up to 62 miles into space, but footage shows it lifting only slightly from its launch pad before dropping to the ground.

The 33ft pencil rocket then disappears into a fireball.

No-one was injured.

Interstellar Technologies president Takahiro Inagawa said he believes the rocket suffered a glitch in its main engine.

The lift-off failure was the second after the rocket’s first launch last July.