A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying satellites into orbit had been aborted minutes after liftoff Wednesday, nine months after the company’s first launch attempt ended in an explosion.

A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying satellites into orbit had been aborted minutes after liftoff on Wednesday and destroyed itself again, nine months after the company’s first launch attempt ended in an explosion.

Space startups in Japan and India said on Tuesday they had agreed to jointly study using laser-equipped satellites to remove debris from orbit, an experimental approach to the increasingly imminent problem of orbital congestion.