H-IIA
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The H-IIA 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 and ATK Thiokol for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. Launches occur at the Tanegashima Space Center.
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.
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. 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.
Japan's eighth H-IIA launch was successful as well when the Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS) was lofted into orbit to carry out a remote sensing mission in January 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Basic specs
- Length: 53 m
- Stages: 2
[edit] Variants
| Designation | Mass (tonnes) | Payload (tonnes to GTO) | Addon modules |
|---|---|---|---|
| H2a202 | 285 | 4 | 2 Solid rocket boosters (SRBs) |
| H2a2022 | 316 | 4.25 | 2 SRBs + 2 Solid Strap-on Boosters (SSBs) |
| H2a2024 | 347 | 4.5 | 2 SRBs + 4 SSBs |
| H2a204 | 6 | 4 SRBS | |
| H2a212 (cancelled) | 403 | 7.5 | 2 SRBs + 1 Liquid Strap-On Booster (LRB) |
| H2a222 (cancelled) | 520 | 9.5 | 2 SRBs + 2 LRBs |
JAXA now foresees to increase the diameter of the main cryogenic tank of the launcher in order to augment its performance. The resulting launcher, the H-IIB, will fly in 2008.
[edit] H-IIA flights
| Date (UTC) | Flight | Model | Payload | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 29, 2001 07:00:00 | TF1 | H2a202 | VEP 2 | Success |
| LRE | ||||
| February 4, 2002 02:45:00 | TF2 | H2a2024 | VEP 3 | Success |
| MDS 1 (Tsubasa) | ||||
| DASH | ||||
| September 10, 2002 08:20:00 | 3F | H2a2024 | USERS | Success |
| DRTS (Kodama) | ||||
| December 14, 2002 01:31:00 | 4F | H2a202 | ADEOS 2 | Success |
| WEOS | ||||
| FedSat 1 | ||||
| Micro-Lab-Sat 1 | ||||
| March 28, 2003 01:27:00 | 5F | H2a2024 | IGS-Optical 1 | Success |
| IGS-Radar 1 | ||||
| November 29, 2003 04:33:00 | 6F | H2a2024 | IGS-Optical 2 | Failure |
| IGS-Radar 2 | ||||
| February 26, 2005 09:25:00 | 7F | H2a2022 | MTSat-1R | Success |
| January 24, 2006 01:33:00 | 8F | H2a2022 | ALOS | Success |
| February 18, 2006 06:27:00 | 9F | H2a2024 | MTSat-2 | Success |
| September 11, 2006 04:35:00 | 10F | H2a202 | IGS-Optical 3 | Success |
Maiden flight of the 204 version is around December 16th, 2006 with the ETS-VIII.
[edit] References
- Japan Prepares for Crucial Rocket Launch. SPACE.com. Retrieved on 16 February 2005.
- H-IIA Expendable Launch Vehicle. SPACEandTECH. Retrieved on February 16, 2005.
[edit] External links
- Encyclopedia Astronautica page
- H-IIA English page
- JAXA English page
- H-llA LAUNCH SERVICES
- JAXA Launch Schedule
- Tanegashima Space Center
- "Tanegashima Space Center" -- VISIT JAXA --
- Failed Launch, 11-29-2003
- Image
- Launch 2 Image
| Current: |
Ariane 5 • Atlas V • Cosmos-3M • Delta II • Delta IV • Dnipro • Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle • H-IIA • Long March • Minotaur • Pegasus • Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle • Proton • Rockot • Soyuz • Taurus • Tsyklon • Zenit |
|---|---|
| Planned: | |
| Historical: |
Ariane 1 • Ariane 2/3 • Ariane 4 • Atlas ICBM • Atlas II • Atlas III • Black Arrow • Delta III • Diamant • Energia • Europa • M-V • N1 • R-7 Semyorka • Saturn I • Saturn IB • Saturn V • Saturn INT-21 • PGM-17 Thor • Titan (I, II, III, IV) • Voskhod • Vostok |
