TOKYO, Nov. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Japan destroyed Saturday its own H-2A rocket while in flight due to a malfunction of the rocket.

    The destruction was made about 10 minutes after the rocket lifted off from a space center in southwestern Japan carrying the nation's second pair of spy satellites intended to monitor the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

    The governmental Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center said it destroyed the rocket when it became unable to maintain its designated speed and height after a booster portion failed to separate.

    The agency said it destroyed the rocket at around 1:44 p.m. (0544 GMT), following its liftoff at 1:33 p.m. (0533 GMT) with the two satellites aboard -- an optical sensor model and a radar model.

    The domestically developed H-2A is central to Japan's space program. The failure is seen considerably delaying Japan's plan to start its surveillance network using the spy satellites slated for April next year.

    The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said it set up an investigative headquarters for the incident.

    Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in a comment released in the afternoon, "It is extremely regrettable in such a situation where our nation needs to boost information gathering ability for security reasons and to prepare for natural disasters."

    The failed mission came after three postponements in September due to technical problems related to the spy satellites and the rocket itself.

    Japan activated the self-destruction system on a rocket for the second time after the first case in November 1999.

    It was the first rocket launch since the space agency was created in October through the merger of the National Space Development Agency of Japan and two other space entities.

    The pair of spy satellites was designed to work together with the first set of satellites launched in March to allow any point on Earth to be monitored once a day.

    The Japanese government had planned to completely activate the four-satellite system in April, especially to watch the DPRK's military movements.

    According to Kyodo News, the decision to launch spy satellites was made after the DPRK fired a Taepodong ballistic missile in 1998, part of which flew over the Japanese archipelago before falling into the Pacific Ocean.

    The launch of the second pair of satellites was scheduled for Sept. 10 but was postponed to Sept. 22 and then Sept. 27 due to technical problems. The third delay was due to trouble with the H-2A rocket.

    The space agency plans to launch another H-2A in February, witha satellite to be used for weather observation and flight control of commercial airliners.

    However, experts say the latest failure may postpone the launch of the weather satellite. Enditem