H-IIA (H-2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...

(MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. These liquid fuel

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

s have been used to launch

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

s into geostationary orbit; lunar orbiting spacecraft; '' Akatsuki'', which studied the planet Venus; and the

Emirates Mars Mission , ''Al-Amal'') , manufacturer = , dry_mass = 550 kg , launch_mass = 1350 kg, including800 kg hydrazine fuel1,350 kg , payload_mass = , dimensions = 2.37 m × 2.90 m , power = 1800 watts from t ...

, which was launched to Mars in July 2020. Launches occur at the

Tanegashima Space Center The (TNSC) is the largest rocket-launch complex in Japan with a total area of about 9.7 square kilometers. It is located on the southeast coast of Tanegashima, an island approximately south of Kyushu. It was established in 1969 when the ...

. The H-IIA first flew in 2001. , H-IIA rockets were launched 45 times, including 39 consecutive missions without a failure, dating back to 29 November 2003. Production and management of the H-IIA shifted from JAXA to MHI on 1 April 2007. Flight 13, which launched the lunar orbiter

SELENE In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of ...

, was the first H-IIA launched after this privatization. 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 H-IIB (H2B) was an expendable space launch system jointly developed by the Japanese government's space agency JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was used to launch the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV, or ''Kōnotori'') cargo spacecraft for ...

, was developed in the 2000s and made its

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alw ...

in 2009.

Vehicle description

The launch capability of an H-IIA launch vehicle can be enhanced by adding

SRB-A SRB-A is a series of Japanese solid-fueled rocket booster manufactured by IHI Corporation for use on the H-IIA, H-IIB, and Epsilon rockets. Design SRB-A is 2.5 meters in diameter, and 15.1 meters in length. Its casing is a carbon-fiber-reinforced ...

solid rocket booster (SRB) and Castor 4AXL solid strap-on booster (SSB) to its basic configuration. 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

liquid rocket booster A liquid rocket booster (LRB) uses liquid fuel and oxidizer to give a liquid-propellant or hybrid rocket an extra boost at take-off, and/or increase the total payload that can be carried. It is attached to the side of a rocket. Unlike solid rock ...

s (LRBs) * The third, the number of SRBs * An optional fourth number shows the number of SSBs. 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

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

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,

, 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 launched the Telstar 12V satellite, the first commercial primary payload for a Japanese launch vehicle.

References

Notes Sources * *

External links

H-IIA LAUNCH SERVICES
, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Failed Launch, 11-29-2003

{{Japanese launch systems Expendable space launch systems Mitsubishi Heavy Industries space launch vehicles Vehicles introduced in 2001 de:H-II#H-IIA

Vehicle description

Variants

Launch history

See also

References

External links