The J-I was a solid-fuel, expendable,

small-lift launch vehicle A small-lift launch vehicle is a rocket orbital launch vehicle that is capable of lifting or less (by NASA classification) or under (by Roscosmos classification) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). The next larger category is medium-lift l ...

developed by the

National Space Development Agency of Japan The , or NASDA, was a Japanese national space agency established on October 1, 1969 under the National Space Development Agency Law only for peaceful purposes. Based on the Space Development Program enacted by the Minister of Education, Culture ...

and the

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science , or ISAS, is a Japanese national research organization of astrophysics using rockets, astronomical satellites and interplanetary probes which played a major role in Japan's space development. Established as part of the University of Tokyo ...

. In an attempt to reduce development costs, it used the

solid rocket booster A solid rocket booster (SRB) is a solid propellant motor used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from initial launch through the first ascent. Many launch vehicles, including the Atlas V, SLS and Space Shuttle, have used SRBs to give laun ...

from the

H-II The H-II (H2) rocket was a Japanese satellite launch system, which flew seven times between 1994 and 1999, with five successes. It was developed by NASDA in order to give Japan a capability to launch larger satellites in the 1990s. It was the fi ...

as the first stage, and the upper stages of the

M-3SII The Mu, also known as M, was a series of Japanese Solid-fuel rocket, solid-fueled carrier rockets, which were launched from Uchinoura Space Center, Uchinoura between 1966 and 2006. Originally developed by Japan's Institute of Space and Astronauti ...

. It flew only once on a suborbital flight taking place on 11 February 1996 from the

Osaki Launch Complex Osaki Launch Complex is a rocket launch site located at the Tanegashima Space Center on the island of Tanegashima. Initially constructed for the N-I rocket, the complex was subsequently utilized for N-II, H-I and J-I launches. Construct ...

at the

Tanegashima Space Center The (TNSC) is Japan's primary spaceport, covering approximately about . It is located on the southeastern tip of Tanegashima, the easternmost of the Ōsumi Islands, approximately south of the major island of Kyushu. The site was selected on ...

in a partial configuration, to launch the demonstrator

HYFLEX HYFLEX (Hypersonic Flight Experiment) was a National Space Development Agency of Japan reentry demonstrator prototype which was launched in 1996 on the only flight of the J-I launcher. It was a successor of OREX and was a precursor for the Ja ...

. The vehicle never flew in the final orbital capability configuration, which should have launched the

OICETS The Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS), also called ''Kirari'', was an experimental satellite launched by JAXA to demonstrate interorbital communication between satellites through optical (laser) means. OICETS ...

satellite (OICETS was launched on a Russian R-36MUTTH

Intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

-based Dnepr rocket instead). On the HYFLEX mission a load of 1,054 kg was launched 1,300 km downrange. Apogee was 110km; the HYFLEX payload achieved speed of approximately 3.8 km/s.

References

External links

* * Space launch vehicles of Japan {{rocket-stub

See also

References

External links