H-IIA

For other uses, see H2A (disambiguation).

H-IIA (H-2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. These liquid fuel rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit; lunar orbiting spacecraft; Akatsuki, which studied the planet Venus; and the Emirates Mars Mission, which was launched to Mars in July 2020. Launches occur at the Tanegashima Space Center. The H-IIA first flew in 2001. As of September 2024^[update], H-IIA rockets were launched 49 times, including 43 consecutive missions without a failure, dating back to 29 November 2003.

H-IIA

H-IIA rolls out to the launch pad, February 2014
Function	Medium-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Country of origin	Japan
Cost per launch	US$90 million[1]
Size
Height	53 m (174 ft)
Diameter	4 m (13 ft)
Mass	285,000–445,000 kg (628,000–981,000 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	10,000–15,000 kg (22,000–33,000 lb)
Payload to GTO
Mass	4,100–6,000 kg (9,000–13,200 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	H-II family
Based on	H-II
Derivative work	H-IIB
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Tanegashima, LA-Y1
Total launches	49 202: 34 204: 5 2022: 3 2024: 7
Success(es)	48 202: 34 204: 5 2022: 3 2024: 6
First flight	202: 29 August 2001 204: 18 December 2006 2022: 26 February 2005 2024: 4 February 2002
Last flight	202: 26 September 2024 (active) 204: 22 December 2021 2022: 14 September 2007 2024: 23 February 2008
Type of passengers/cargo	SELENE Ibuki Akatsuki Hayabusa 2 Emirates Mars Mission
Boosters – SRB-A
No. boosters	2–4
Height	15.1 m (50 ft)
Diameter	2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Maximum thrust	2,260 kN (510,000 lbf)
Total thrust	4,520–9,040 kN (1,020,000–2,030,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	280 s (2.7 km/s)
Burn time	120 seconds
Propellant	HTPB
Boosters (2022, 2024) – Castor 4A-XL
No. boosters	2–4
Height	12 m (38 ft)
Diameter	1.02 m (40.1 in)[2]
Gross mass	14,983 kg (33,031 lb)
Propellant mass	13,112 kg (28,906 lb)
Maximum thrust	765 kN (172,060 lbf)
Total thrust	1,531–3,061 kN (344,120–688,240 lbf)
Specific impulse	282.6 s (2.771 km/s)
Burn time	58 seconds
Propellant	HTPB/Al
First stage
Height	37.2 m (122 ft)
Diameter	4 m (13 ft)
Powered by	1 × LE-7A
Maximum thrust	1,098 kN (247,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	440 s (4.3 km/s)
Burn time	390 seconds
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
Second stage
Height	9.2 m (30 ft)
Diameter	4 m (13 ft)
Powered by	1 × LE-5B
Maximum thrust	137 kN (31,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	447 s (4.38 km/s)
Burn time	534 seconds
Propellant	LH2 / LOX

The Liftoff of H-IIA Flight 19

The H-IIA rocket lineup

The H-IIA

Engine at Miraikan

Production and management of the H-IIA shifted from JAXA to MHI on 1 April 2007. Flight 13, which launched the lunar orbiter SELENE, was the first H-IIA launched after this privatization.^[3]

The H-IIA is a derivative of the earlier H-II rocket, substantially redesigned to improve reliability and minimize costs. There have been four variants, with two in active service (as of 2020) for various purposes. A derivative design, the H-IIB, was developed in the 2000s and made its maiden flight in 2009.

Vehicle description

The base configuration, and the only remaining active configuration of an H-IIA launch vehicle, uses two SRB-A type solid rocket boosters (SRBs). The launch capability of the H-IIA launch vehicle could be enhanced by adding an additional two SRB-A boosters or up to four Castor 4AXL solid strap-on boosters (SSBs).

The models are indicated by three or four numbers following the prefix "H2A":^[4]

• The first number in the sequence indicates the number of stages (always 2)
• The second number in the sequence indicates the number of liquid rocket boosters (a planned addition to the launch vehicle that was canceled, so always 0)
• The third number in the sequence indicates the number of SRB-A type solid rocket boosters (2 or 4)
• The fourth, optional, number in the sequence indicates the number of Castor 4AXL solid strap-on boosters (2 or 4)

Variants

Launch system status

  Active

  Discontinued

  Cancelled

Designation	Mass (tonnes)	Payload to GTO (tonnes)	Addon modules
H2A 202	285	4.1	2 SRB-A (SRB)
H2A 2022[5]	316	4.5	2 SRB-A (SRB) + 2 Castor 4AXL (SSB)
H2A 2024	347	5	2 SRB-A (SRB) + 4 Castor 4AXL (SSB)
H2A 204	445	6	4 SRB-A (SRB)
H2A 212	403	7.5	2 SRB-A (SRB) + 1 LRB [6][7]
H2A 222	520	9.5	2 SRB-A (SRB) + 2 LRBs [6]

Launch history

Main article: List of H-II and H3 launches

The first H-IIA was successfully launched on 29 August 2001, followed by a string of successes.

The sixth launch on 29 November 2003, intended to launch two IGS reconnaissance satellites, failed. JAXA announced that launches would resume in 2005, and the first successful flight took place on 26 February 2005 with the launch of MTSAT-1R.

The first launch for a mission beyond Earth orbit was on 14 September 2007 for the SELENE Moon mission. The first foreign payload on the H-IIA was the Australian FedSat-1 in 2002. As of March 2015, 27 out of 28 launches were successful.

A rocket with increased launch capabilities, H-IIB, is a derivative of the H-IIA family. H-IIB uses two LE-7A engines in its first stage, as opposed to one in H-IIA. The first H-IIB was successfully launched on 10 September 2009.

For the 29th flight on 24 November 2015, an H-IIA with an upgraded second stage^[8] launched the Telstar 12V satellite, the first commercial primary payload for a Japanese launch vehicle.^[9]

Flight No.	Date (UTC)	Type	Payload(s)	Outcome
TF1	29 August 2001 07:00:00	H2A 202	VEP 2 LRE	Success
TF2	4 February 2002 02:45:00	H2A 2024	VEP 3 MDS-1 (Tsubasa) DASH	Success
F3	10 September 2002 08:20:00	H2A 2024	USERS DRTS (Kodama)	Success
F4	14 December 2002 01:31:00	H2A 202	ADEOS 2 (Midori 2) WEOS (Kanta-kun) FedSat 1 Micro LabSat 1	Success
F5	28 March 2003 01:27:00	H2A 2024	IGS-Optical 1 IGS-Radar 1	Success
F6	29 November 2003 04:33:00	H2A 2024	IGS-Optical IGS-Radar	Failure
	A hot gas leak from SRB-A motor destroyed its separation system and the booster did not separate as planned. The weight of the spent motor prevented the vehicle from achieving its planned speed and height and it was destroyed via a ground command about 10 minutes into the flight.[10]
F7	26 February 2005 09:25:00	H2A 2022	MTSAT-1R (Himawari 6)	Success
F8	24 January 2006 01:33:00	H2A 2022	ALOS (Daichi)	Success
F9	18 February 2006 06:27:00	H2A 2024	MTSAT-2 (Himawari 7)	Success
F10	11 September 2006 04:35:00	H2A 202	IGS-Optical 2	Success
F11	18 December 2006 06:32:00	H2A 204	ETS-VIII (Kiku 8)	Success
F12	24 February 2007 04:41:00	H2A 2024	IGS-Radar 2 IGS-Optical 3V	Success
F13	14 September 2007 01:31:01	H2A 2022	SELENE (Kaguya)	Success
F14	23 February 2008 08:55:00	H2A 2024	WINDS (Kizuna)	Success
F15	23 January 2009 03:54:00	H2A 202	GOSAT (Ibuki) SDS-1 STARS (Kūkai) KKS-1 (Kiseki) PRISM (Hitomi) Sohla-1 (Maido 1) SORUNSAT-1 (Kagayaki) SPRITE-SAT (Raijin)	Success [11]
F16	28 November 2009 01:21:00 [12]	H2A 202	IGS-Optical 3	Success
F17	20 May 2010 21:58:22 [13][14][15]	H2A 202 [16]	PLANET-C (Akatsuki) IKAROS UNITEC-1 (Shin'en) Waseda-SAT2 K-Sat (Hayato) Negai☆″	Success
F18	11 September 2010 11:17:00 [17]	H2A 202	QZS-1 (Michibiki)	Success
F19	23 September 2011 04:36:50 [18]	H2A 202	IGS-Optical 4	Success
F20	12 December 2011 01:21:00 [19]	H2A 202	IGS-Radar 3	Success
F21	17 May 2012 16:39:00	H2A 202 [20]	GCOM-W1 (Shizuku) KOMPSAT-3 (Arirang 3) SDS-4 HORYU-2	Success
F22	27 January 2013 04:40:00	H2A 202	IGS-Radar 4 IGS-Optical 5V	Success
F23	27 February 2014 18:37:00	H2A 202	GPM-Core SindaiSat (Ginrei) STARS-II (Gennai) TeikyoSat-3 ITF-1 (Yui) OPUSAT (CosMoz) INVADER KSAT2	Success
F24	24 May 2014 03:05:14	H2A 202	ALOS-2 (Daichi 2) RISING-2 UNIFORM-1 SOCRATES SPROUT	Success
F25	7 October 2014 05:16:00	H2A 202	Himawari 8	Success
F26	3 December 2014 04:22:04	H2A 202	Hayabusa2 Shin'en 2 ARTSAT2-DESPATCH PROCYON	Success
F27	1 February 2015 01:21:00	H2A 202	IGS-Radar Spare	Success
F28	26 March 2015 01:21:00	H2A 202	IGS-Optical 5	Success
F29	24 November 2015 06:50:00	H2A 204	Telstar 12 Vantage	Success
F30	17 February 2016 08:45:00	H2A 202	ASTRO-H (Hitomi) ChubuSat-2 (Kinshachi 2) ChubuSat-3 (Kinshachi 3) Horyu-4	Success
	The Hitomi telescope broke apart 37 days after launch.[21]
F31	2 November 2016 06:20:00	H2A 202	Himawari 9	Success
F32	24 January 2017 07:44:00	H2A 204	DSN-2 (Kirameki 2)	Success
F33	17 March 2017 01:20:00	H2A 202	IGS-Radar 5	Success
F34	1 June 2017 00:17:46	H2A 202	QZS-2 (Michibiki 2)	Success
F35	19 August 2017 05:29:00	H2A 204	QZS-3 (Michibiki 3)	Success
F36	9 October 2017 22:01:37	H2A 202	QZS-4 (Michibiki 4)	Success
F37	23 December 2017 01:26:22	H2A 202	GCOM-C (Shikisai) SLATS (Tsubame)	Success
F38	27 February 2018 04:34:00	H2A 202	IGS-Optical 6	Success
F39	12 June 2018 04:20:00	H2A 202	IGS-Radar 6	Success
F40	29 October 2018 04:08:00	H2A 202	GOSAT-2 (Ibuki-2) KhalifaSat Diwata-2B Tenkōh Stars-AO (Aoi) AUTcube2 (Gamacube)	Success
F41	9 February 2020 01:34:00	H2A 202	IGS-Optical 7	Success
F42	19 July 2020 21:58:14	H2A 202	Emirates Mars Mission (Hope)	Success
F43	29 November 2020 07:25:00	H2A 202	JDRS/LUCAS	Success
F44	26 October 2021 02:19:37	H2A 202	QZS-1R	Success
F45	22 December 2021 15:32:00	H2A 204	Inmarsat-6 F1	Success
F46	26 January 2023 01:50:21	H2A 202	IGS-Radar 7	Success
F47	6 September 2023 23:42:11	H2A 202	XRISM SLIM	Success
F48	12 January 2024 04:44:26	H2A 202	IGS-Optical 8	Success
F49	26 September 2024 05:24:20	H2A 202	IGS-Radar 8	Success
F50	NET Q3 2024	H2A 202	GOSAT-GW	Planned
	Final flight of H-IIA, and H-II family as a whole.

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• Comparison of orbital launchers families
• Comparison of orbital launch systems

References

Notes

1. "Surplus Missile Motors: Sale Price Drives Potential Effects on DOD and Commercial Launch Providers". Government Accountability Office. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
2. "Propulsion Products Catalog" (PDF). Northrop Grumman.
3. "Mitsubishi and Arianespace Combine Commercial Satellite Launch Services". SatNews. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012.
4. "H-IIA Launch Vehicle" (PDF). JAXA. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
5. 三菱重工、「H2A」2機種に半減・民営化でコスト減. NIKKEI NET
6. "Japan Reenters Rocket Race With New Improved H2A". Space Daily. 20 August 2001.
7. "H-2A".
8. "Launch Result of Telstar 12 VANTAGE by H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 29". JAXA. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
9. William Graham (23 November 2015). "Japanese H-IIA successfully lofts Telstar 12V". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
10. "Launch Result of IGS #2/H-IIA F6". JAXA. 29 November 2003. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
11. "Launch Result of the IBUKI (GOSAT) by H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 15". MHI and JAXA. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
12. "H-IIA F16". Sorae. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012.
13. "Launch Day of the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 17". JAXA. 3 March 2010. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
14. "Overview of Secondary Payloads". JAXA.
15. Tariq Malik (18 May 2010). "New Venus Probe to Launch Thursday From Japan After". space.com. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
16. Chris Bergin (17 May 2010). "JAXA launch H-IIA carrying AKATSUKI and IKAROS scrubbed". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
17. "New Launch Day of the First Quasi-Zenith Satellite 'MICHIBIKI' by H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 18". JAXA.
18. Chris Bergin (23 September 2011). "Japanese H-2A launches with new IGS military satellite". NASASpaceflight.
19. Chris Bergin (11 December 2011). "Japanese H-2A lofts IGS (Radar-3) satellite into orbit". NASASpaceflight.
20. "Launch Overview – H-IIA Launch Services Flight No.21". Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
21. Clark, Stephen (18 April 2016). "Attitude control failures led to break-up of Japanese astronomy satellite". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2016.

Sources

• "Japan Prepares for Crucial Rocket Launch". SPACE.com. Retrieved 16 February 2005.
• "H-IIA Expendable Launch Vehicle". SPACEandTECH. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2005.

External links

• H-IIA LAUNCH SERVICES Archived 12 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
• JAXA H-IIA English page
• JAXA English page
• JAXA Launch Schedule Archived 11 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• Tanegashima Space Center Archived 8 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• "Tanegashima Space Center"– VISIT JAXA --
• Encyclopedia Astronautica page
• Failed Launch, 11-29-2003
• Image
• Launch 2 Image