A Japanese rocket engine exploded during a test on Friday, which is the latest blow to the country's space agency.

This was revealed by an official of the ministry of science and technology, Naoya Takegami, noting that an improved version of the Epsilon rocket that failed to launch in October, blew up about 50 seconds after ignition.

Takegami said the ministry did not receive reports of injuries from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which was investigating the cause of the explosion.

The malfunction comes after Tokyo in March saw its second attempt to launch its next-generation H3 rocket fail after liftoff, and after the failed launch of the solid-fuel Epsilon in October.

That was Japan's first failed launch in nearly two decades, and the only one for an Epsilon rocket, a model that has flown five successful missions since its 2013 debut.

The testing site in the northern prefecture of Akita was engulfed in flames and a huge plume of grey smoke rose into the sky, footage from national broadcaster NHK showed.

Japan's space programme is one of the world's largest, and in October JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata flew to the International Space Station as part of the Crew-5 mission.