H-IIA.html



H-IIA

H-IIA rocket
Function	Launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Country of origin	Japan
Size
Height	53 m (173 ft)
Diameter	4 m (13.1 ft)
Mass	445,000 kg (981,057 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO	10,000 - 15,000 kg (22,046 - 33,069 lb)
Payload to GTO	4,100 - 6,000 kg (9,038 - 13,227 lb)
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	LC-Y, Tanegashima
Total launches	14
Successes	13
Failures	1 (2024)
Maiden flight	202: 29 August 2001 204: 18 December 2006 2022: 26 February 2005 2024: 4 February 2002
Boosters (H-IIA 2022/2024) - Castor 4AXL
No boosters	2 - 4
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	745 kN
Specific impulse	283 sec
Burn time	60 seconds
Fuel	Solid
Boosters (All Variants) - SRB-A
No boosters	2 - 4
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	(2,250 kN)
Specific impulse	280 sec
Burn time	120 seconds
Fuel	Solid
First stage
Engines	1 LE-7A
Thrust	1,098 kN (246,840 lbf)
Specific impulse	440 sec
Burn time	390 seconds
Fuel	LOX/LH2
Second stage
Engines	1 LE-5B
Thrust	137 kN (30,798 lbf)
Specific impulse	447 sec
Burn time	534 seconds
Fuel	LOX/LH2

The H-IIA (H2A) is a family of liquid-fuelled rockets providing an expendable launch system for the purpose of launching satellites into geostationary orbit. It is manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. Launches occur at the Tanegashima Space Center. On April 1, 2007, production and management of the H-IIA was shifted from JAXA to MHI. Flight 13 launching the lunar orbiter SELENE, was the first H-IIA launched after this privatization.¹

The H-IIA is a derivative of the earlier H-II rocket, though has been substantially redesigned to improve reliability and minimize costs, after the H-II proved to be expensive and failure-prone. There are four different variants of the H-IIA for various purposes.

History

Liftoff of H-IIA Flight 11

The H-IIA was first launched on August 29, 2001, and the sixth launch on November 29, 2003 failed. The rocket was intended to launch two reconnaissance satellites to observe North Korea^{citation needed}. JAXA announced that launches would resume in 2005, and indeed the first successful flight took place on February 26 with the launch of MTSAT-1R.

The first launch for a mission beyond Earth orbit was on September 14, 2007 for the SELENE moon mission. The first foreign payload on the H-IIA was the Australian FedSat-1 in 2002.

As of February 2008, 13 out of 14 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 is planned to fly in 2009.

Vehicle lineup

H-IIA rocket lineup

The launch capability of an H-IIA launch vehicle can be enhanced by adding SSBs (solid strap-on boosters) and other boosters to its basic configuration, creating a "family". The models are indicated by three or four numbers following the prefix "H2A". The first number in the sequence indicates the number of stages; the second the number of LRBs (liquid rocket boosters); the third the number of SRBs (solid rocket boosters); and, if present, the fourth number shows the number of SSBs.² The first two figures are virtually fixed at "20", as H-IIA is always two-staged, and the plans for LRBs were cancelled and superseded by the H-IIB. As of 2007^[update] there are four different configurations shown in the following table.

H-IIA flights

Planned launches

The next planned launch of an H-IIA will carry the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT). Following that is a planned Quasi-Zenith Satellite System launch.³

See also

• Comparison of mid-heavy lift launch systems

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

H-IIA

• H-IIA LAUNCH SERVICES
• JAXA H-IIA English page
• JAXA English page
• JAXA Launch Schedule
• Tanegashima Space Center
• "Tanegashima Space Center" – VISIT JAXA --
• Encyclopedia Astronautica page
• Failed Launch, 11-29-2003
• Image
• Launch 2 Image

v • d • e Expendable launch systems Current Spaceflight portal Ariane 5 · Atlas V · Delta (II · IV) · Dnepr-1 · GSLV · H-IIA · Kosmos-3M · Long March (1D · 2C · 2D · 2F · 3A · 3B · 3C · 4B · 4C) · Minotaur · Pegasus · Proton · PSLV · Rockot · Shavit · Shtil' · Start-1 · Strela · Soyuz (U · FG · 2) · Taurus · Tsyklon-3 · Volna · Zenit Planned Angara · GSLV III · GX · H-IIB · KSLV · Long March 5 · Safir · Taiwan SLV · Taurus II · Vega Previous Ariane (1 · 2 / 3 · 4) · ASLV · Athena · Atlas (ICBM-derived · I · II · III) · Black Arrow · Delta (III) · Diamant · Energia · Europa · H-I · H-II · J-I · Juno I · Juno II · Kosmos (1 · 2I · 3) · Lambda · Long March (1 · 2A · 2E · 3 · 4A) · Mu (V) · N1 · N-I · N-II · R-7 (Luna · Molniya (M) · Polyot · Sputnik · Voskhod · Vostok) · Saturn (I · IB · V · INT-21) · Scout · SLV · Sparta · Thor (Able · Agena · Burner) · Thorad-Agena · Titan (II · III · IIIB · 34D · IV) · Tsyklon (2) · Vanguard