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 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 |
|
| Success(es) |
|
| First flight |
|
| Last flight |
|
| Type of passengers/cargo | |
| 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 |
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 before finally retired on its final launch in 2020.
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
Launch history
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 Q1 2025 | H2A 202 | GOSAT-GW | Planned |
| Final flight of H-IIA, and H-II family as a whole. | ||||
See also
References
External links
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