Japan's Rocket, Russia's Space Weapon: Saturday Asia Briefing

Something for the weekend.

India’s farmers are protesting again, months before national elections.

Photographer: NARINDER NANU/Getty Images
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After last week’s almanac of optimism, it seems only fair this weekend to have a roundup of mistakes, anxiety, skullduggery and protest. But first, the good news.

Japan finally launched its next-generation H3 rocket, almost a year after an earlier attempt malfunctioned. This could pave the way for the nation’s space agency to launch as many as six rockets a year, compared with the nine Elon Musk’s Space-X sent up last month.