H-IIA

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H-IIA
H-IIA rocket
H-IIA rocket
Fact sheet
Function Launch vehicle
Manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Country of origin Japan
Size
Height 53 m (173 ft)
Diameter 4 m (13.1 ft)
Mass 285,000 kg (628,000 lb)
Stages 2
Capacity
Payload to LEO 202: 10,000 kg
2024: 11,730 kg
(202: 22,000 lb
2024: 25,860 lb)
Payload to
GTO
202: 4,100 kg
2024: 5000 kg
(202: 9,000 lb
2024: 11,000 lb)
Launch History
Status Active
Launch sites LC-Y, Tanegashima
Total launches 13 (202: 3, 204: 1, 2022: 3 , 2024: 7)
Successes 12 (202: 3, 204: 1, 2022: 3 , 2024: 6)
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

[edit] History

Liftoff of H-IIA Flight 11
Liftoff of H-IIA Flight 11

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[citation 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.

[edit] Vehicle lineup

H-IIAロケット ラインナップ
H-IIAロケット ラインナップ

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 there are four different configurations shown in the following table.

Designation Mass (tonnes) Payload (tonnes to GTO) Addon modules
H2A202 285 4 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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