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 H-IIA rocket |
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| 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.
Contents |
History
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 Koreacitation 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
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.
| Designation | Mass (tonnes) | Payload (tonnes to GTO) | Addon modules |
|---|---|---|---|
| H2A202 | 285 | 4.1 | 2 Solid rocket boosters (SRBs) |
| H2A2022 | 316 | 4.5 | 2 SRBs + 2 Solid strap-on Boosters (SSBs) |
| H2A2024 | 347 | 5 | 2 SRBs + 4 SSBs |
| H2A204 | 445 | 6 | 4 SRBs |
| H2A212 (cancelled) | 403 | 7.5 | 2 SRBs + 1 Liquid rocket booster (LRB) |
| H2A222 (cancelled) | 520 | 9.5 | 2 SRBs + 2 LRBs |
H-IIA flights
| Date (UTC) | Flight | H2A202 | H2A2022 | H2A2024 | H2A204 | Payload | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 29, 2001 07:00:00 |
TF1 | H2A202 | VEP 2 LRE |
Success | |||
| February 4, 2002 02:45:00 |
TF2 | H2A2024 | VEP 3 MDS-1 (Tsubasa) DASH |
Success | |||
| September 10, 2002 08:20:00 |
F3 | H2A2024 | USERS DRTS (Kodama) |
Success | |||
| December 14, 2002 01:31:00 |
F4 | H2A202 | ADEOS 2 (Midori 2) WEOS (Kanta-kun) FedSat 1 Micro LabSat 1 |
Success | |||
| March 28, 2003 01:27:00 |
F5 | H2A2024 | IGS-Optical 1 IGS-Radar 1 |
Success | |||
| November 29, 2003 04:33:00 |
F6 | H2A2024 | IGS-Optical 2 IGS-Radar 2 |
Failure | |||
| February 26, 2005 09:25:00 |
F7 | H2A2022 | MTSat-1R (Himawari 6) | Success | |||
| January 24, 2006 01:33:00 |
F8 | H2A2022 | ALOS (Daichi) | Success | |||
| February 18, 2006 06:27:00 |
F9 | H2A2024 | MTSat-2 (Himawari 7) | Success | |||
| September 11, 2006 04:35:00 |
F10 | H2A202 | IGS-Optical 3 | Success | |||
| December 18, 2006 06:32:00 |
F11 | H2A204 | ETS-VIII (Kiku 8) | Success | |||
| February 24, 2007 04:41:00 |
F12 | H2A2024 | IGS-Radar 3 IGS-Optical 4 |
Success | |||
| September 14, 2007 01:31:01 |
F13 | H2A2022 | SELENE (Kaguya) | Success | |||
| February 23, 2008 08:55:00 |
F14 | H2A2024 | WINDS (Kizuna) | Success |
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
References
- ^ "Mitsubishi and Arianespace Combine Commercial Satellite Launch Services". SatNews.
- ^ "H-IIA Launch Vehicle" (PDF) 2. JAXA. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
- ^ "H-IIA Launch Schedule". JAXA.
- "Japan Prepares for Crucial Rocket Launch". SPACE.com. Retrieved on 16 February 2005.
- "H-IIA Expendable Launch Vehicle". SPACEandTECH. Retrieved on February 16, 2005.
External links
- 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
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 21 November 2008, at 21:49.
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