Lambda is the name of a series of Japanese

carrier rocket A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistag ...

s. It consisted of the types Lambda 2, LSC-3, Lambda 3, Lambda 3H, Lambda 4S, Lambda 4SC, and Lambda 4T developed jointly by

Institute of Industrial Science The Institute of Industrial Science (usually abbreviated as IIS) is an institute within the University of Tokyo (UTokyo). The institute conducts 'scientific and comprehensive research of industrial production and the practical application of rese ...

of the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

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 ...

of the

, and

Prince Motor Company The Prince Motor Company (Japanese language, Japanese: ) was an automobile manufacturer, automobile marque from Japan which eventually merged into Nissan in 1966. It began as the Tachikawa Aircraft Company, a manufacturer of various airplanes fo ...

, which merged with

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

in 1966. Lambda series rockets did not have

guidance systems A guidance system is a virtual or physical device, or a group of devices implementing a controlling the movement of a ship, aircraft, missile, rocket, satellite, or any other moving object. Guidance is the process of calculating the changes in pos ...

, as they had the potential to be converted for offensive military use, thus interpreted as a violation of

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a clause in the Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution was drafted following the surrender of Japan in World War II. It came into effect on 3 May 1947 during the oc ...

. However, future Japanese launch vehicles, such as 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 ...

, were allowed to have guidance systems.

Configurations

Lambda types differ regarding the upper stages used. The following table shows the actual configurations:

Launches

Lambda rockets were launched by

ISAS , 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 ...

, from Kagoshima pad L. On February 11, 1970, the first Japanese

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

Ohsumi was launched using a Lambda 4S rocket. The Lambda 4S was launched nine times, though five were failures. The first launch of the

Lambda 4S The Lambda 4S or L-4S was an experimental Japanese expendable carrier rocket. It was produced by Nissan and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and launched five times between 1966 and 1970 with Ohsumi technology demonstration satelli ...

rocket took place on September 26, 1966, from

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

. A fourth-stage attitude control failed resulting in loss of the vehicle and payload.

References

* Solid-fuel rockets Space launch vehicles of Japan Rocket families Japanese inventions {{rocket-stub