Science News Roundup: Japan delays launch of H3 rocket by a day due to weather; Archaeologists find well-preserved 500-year-old spices on Baltic shipwreck and more

An Arianespace mission on Dec. 20 carrying two Airbus Defence & Space satellites failed around two and a half minutes into flight when an anomaly occurred with its Zefiro 40 rocket motor. As space junk threat grows, government and investors seek solutions A growing swarm of debris in space has led the U.S. government to attempt to set new space hygiene norms, while private companies are also investing in ways to tackle the messy orbital environment.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Japan delays launch of H3 rocket by a day due to weather

Japan's space agency on Saturday postponed the launch of its flagship H3 rocket by a day to Tuesday due to bad weather, after aborting a launch last month due to technical trouble. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) had halted the initially planned launch moments before lift-off on Feb. 17 when the secondary booster engines on the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rocket failed to ignite.

Archaeologists find well-preserved 500-year-old spices on Baltic shipwreck

Archaeologists say they have uncovered a "unique" cache of well-preserved spices, from strands of saffron to peppercorns and ginger, on the wreck of a royal ship that sunk off Sweden's Baltic coast more than 500 years ago. The wreck of the Gribshund, owned by King Hans of Denmark and Norway, has lain off the coast off Ronneby since 1495 when it is thought to have caught fire and sank as the monarch attended a political meeting ashore in Sweden.

Brazil approves GMO wheat as food supply fears help convince skeptics

Brazil has approved the cultivation and sale of drought-tolerant genetically modified wheat, a major boost for the once taboo crop as global food supply fears and regional dry weather burnishes the lure of GMO. The approval, which biosecurity agency CTNbio posted, makes Brazil the second nation after Argentina to approve Bioceres' HB4 wheat strain for cultivation. Other markets have approved it for consumption.

SpaceX capsule delivers latest four-member crew to International Space Station

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS) after a brief delay early on Friday, carrying two U.S. astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a United Arab Emirates astronaut on a six-month science mission. The autonomously flying spacecraft dubbed Endeavour docked with the space station shortly after 1:40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) on Friday, about 25 hours after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Arianespace says faulty carbon component to blame for failed satellite launch

Arianespace's failed satellite launch in December was likely to have been caused by a faulty carbon component, which Italian aerospace group Avio had purchased from a supplier in Ukraine, the company said, as it published findings of an enquiry on Friday. An Arianespace mission on Dec. 20 carrying two Airbus Defence & Space satellites failed around two and a half minutes into flight when an anomaly occurred with its Zefiro 40 rocket motor.

As space junk threat grows, government and investors seek solutions

A growing swarm of debris in space has led the U.S. government to attempt to set new space hygiene norms, while private companies are also investing in ways to tackle the messy orbital environment. Thousands of commercial satellites are being launched into Earth's orbit at a record pace, driving up the risk of collisions that could spawn swarms of hazardous debris. And with no set norms for military space behavior, some fear a potential space weapon attack that could generate far more debris.

(With inputs from agencies.)