![]() H-IIA rolls out to the launch pad, February 2014 | |
Function | Medium-lift launch vehicle |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
Country of origin | Japan |
Cost per launch | US$90 million [1] |
Size | |
Height | 53 m (174 ft) |
Diameter | 4 m (13 ft) |
Mass | 285,000–445,000 kg (628,000–981,000 lb) |
Stages | 2 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | 10,000–15,000 kg (22,000–33,000 lb) |
Payload to GTO | |
Mass | 4,100–6,000 kg (9,000–13,200 lb) |
Associated rockets | |
Family | H-II family |
Based on | H-II |
Derivative work | H-IIB |
Launch history | |
Status | Retired |
Launch sites | Tanegashima,LA-Y1 |
Total launches |
|
Success(es) |
|
First flight |
|
Last flight |
|
Carries passengers or cargo | |
Boosters – SRB-A | |
No. boosters | 2–4 |
Height | 15.1 m (50 ft) |
Diameter | 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) |
Maximum thrust | 2,260 kN (510,000 lbf) |
Total thrust | 4,520–9,040 kN (1,020,000–2,030,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 280 s (2.7 km/s) |
Burn time | 120 seconds |
Propellant | HTPB |
Boosters (2022,2024) –Castor 4A-XL | |
No. boosters | 2–4 |
Height | 12 m (38 ft) |
Diameter | 1.02 m (40.1 in) [2] |
Gross mass | 14,983 kg (33,031 lb) |
Propellant mass | 13,112 kg (28,906 lb) |
Maximum thrust | 765 kN (172,060 lbf) |
Total thrust | 1,531–3,061 kN (344,120–688,240 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 282.6 s (2.771 km/s) |
Burn time | 58 seconds |
Propellant | HTPB/Al |
First stage | |
Height | 37.2 m (122 ft) |
Diameter | 4 m (13 ft) |
Powered by | 1 ×LE-7A |
Maximum thrust | 1,098 kN (247,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 440 s (4.3 km/s) |
Burn time | 390 seconds |
Propellant | LH2 / LOX |
Second stage | |
Height | 9.2 m (30 ft) |
Diameter | 4 m (13 ft) |
Powered by | 1 ×LE-5B |
Maximum thrust | 137 kN (31,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 447 s (4.38 km/s) |
Burn time | 534 seconds |
Propellant | LH2 / LOX |
H-IIA (H-2A) is a retired Japanese expendable launch system that was developed and operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It was primarily used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit,interplanetary probes,and Earth observation missions. Notable payloads launched by the H-IIA include Akatsuki ,a Venus climate orbiter,and the Emirates Mars Mission,which was launched toward Mars in July 2020. All launches were conducted from the Tanegashima Space Center.
The H-IIA made its maiden flight on 29 August 2001 and flew a total of 50 times before its retirement on 28 June 2025. It achieved 49 successful launches,including a streak of 44 consecutive missions from 2003 to 2025. Management and production responsibility was transferred from JAXA to MHI on 1 April 2007,with Flight 13,carrying the SELENE lunar orbiter,being the first mission under private operation. [3]
The H-IIA was derived from the earlier H-II launch vehicle and featured significant design changes aimed at improving reliability and reducing cost. Several variants were developed,with the final configuration,designated H2A 202,retired in 2025. A derivative design,the H-IIB,was introduced in 2009 and retired in 2020. The H-II series of launch vehicles have been succeeded by the H3 rocket,which conducted its first flight in March 2023.
The H-IIA had two-stage core powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen,and various configurations of boosters to provide additional thrust based on mission requirements.
The base and final active configuration,H2A 202,used two SRB-A type solid rocket boosters. Launch performance could be enhanced by adding up to two additional SRB-As for a total of four boosters,or by adding up to four Castor 4AXL solid strap-on boosters (SSBs),for a total of six boosters.
H-IIA configurations were designated by a three- or four-digit code following the prefix "H2A": [4]
Designation | Mass t (lb) | Payload to GTO t (lb) | Boosters |
---|---|---|---|
H2A 202 | 285 (628,000) | 4.1 (9,000) | 2 × SRB-A (SRB) |
H2A 2022 [5] | 316 (697,000) | 4.5 (9,900) | 2 × SRB-A (SRB) + 2 × Castor 4AXL (SSB) |
H2A 2024 | 347 (765,000) | 5 (11,000) | 2 × SRB-A (SRB) + 4 × Castor 4AXL (SSB) |
H2A 204 | 445 (981,000) | 6 (13,000) | 4 × SRB-A (SRB) |
H2A 212 | 403 (888,000) | 7.5 (17,000) | 2 × SRB-A (SRB) + 1 × LRB [6] [7] |
H2A 222 | 520 (1,150,000) | 9.5 (21,000) | 2 × SRB-A (SRB) + 2 × LRBs [6] |
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 SELENE 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, 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 was successfully launched on 10 September 2009.
For the 29th flight on 24 November 2015, an H-IIA with an upgraded second stage [8] launched the Telstar 12V satellite, the first commercial primary payload for a Japanese launch vehicle. [9]
Flight | Date (UTC) | Type | Payload(s) | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|
TF1 | 29 August 2001 07:00:00 | H2A 202 | VEP 2 LRE | Success |
TF2 | 4 February 2002 02:45:00 | H2A 2024 | VEP 3 MDS-1 (Tsubasa) DASH | Success |
F3 | 10 September 2002 08:20:00 | H2A 2024 | USERS DRTS (Kodama) | Success |
F4 | 14 December 2002 01:31:00 | H2A 202 | ADEOS 2 (Midori 2) WEOS (Kanta-kun) FedSat 1 Micro LabSat 1 | Success |
F5 | 28 March 2003 01:27:00 | H2A 2024 | IGS-Optical 1 IGS-Radar 1 | Success |
F6 | 29 November 2003 04:33:00 | H2A 2024 | IGS-Optical IGS-Radar | Failure |
A hot gas leak from SRB-A motor destroyed its separation system and the booster did not separate as planned. The weight of the spent motor prevented the vehicle from achieving its planned speed and height and it was destroyed via a ground command about 10 minutes into the flight. [10] | ||||
F7 | 26 February 2005 09:25:00 | H2A 2022 | MTSAT-1R (Himawari 6) | Success |
F8 | 24 January 2006 01:33:00 | H2A 2022 | ALOS (Daichi) | Success |
F9 | 18 February 2006 06:27:00 | H2A 2024 | MTSAT-2 (Himawari 7) | Success |
F10 | 11 September 2006 04:35:00 | H2A 202 | IGS-Optical 2 | Success |
F11 | 18 December 2006 06:32:00 | H2A 204 | ETS-VIII (Kiku 8) | Success |
F12 | 24 February 2007 04:41:00 | H2A 2024 | IGS-Radar 2 IGS-Optical 3V | Success |
F13 | 14 September 2007 01:31:01 | H2A 2022 | SELENE (Kaguya) | Success |
F14 | 23 February 2008 08:55:00 | H2A 2024 | WINDS (Kizuna) | Success |
F15 | 23 January 2009 03:54:00 | H2A 202 | GOSAT (Ibuki) SDS-1 STARS (Kūkai) KKS-1 (Kiseki) PRISM (Hitomi) Sohla-1 (Maido 1) SORUNSAT-1 (Kagayaki) SPRITE-SAT (Raijin) | Success [11] |
F16 | 28 November 2009 01:21:00 [12] | H2A 202 | IGS-Optical 3 | Success |
F17 | 20 May 2010 21:58:22 [13] [14] [15] | H2A 202 [16] | PLANET-C (Akatsuki) IKAROS UNITEC-1 (Shin'en) Waseda-SAT2 K-Sat (Hayato) Negai☆″ | Success |
F18 | 11 September 2010 11:17:00 [17] | H2A 202 | QZS-1 (Michibiki) | Success |
F19 | 23 September 2011 04:36:50 [18] | H2A 202 | IGS-Optical 4 | Success |
F20 | 12 December 2011 01:21:00 [19] | H2A 202 | IGS-Radar 3 | Success |
F21 | 17 May 2012 16:39:00 | H2A 202 [20] | GCOM-W1 (Shizuku) KOMPSAT-3 (Arirang 3) SDS-4 HORYU-2 | Success |
F22 | 27 January 2013 04:40:00 | H2A 202 | IGS-Radar 4 IGS-Optical 5V | Success |
F23 | 27 February 2014 18:37:00 | H2A 202 | GPM-Core SindaiSat (Ginrei) STARS-II (Gennai) TeikyoSat-3 ITF-1 (Yui) OPUSAT (CosMoz) INVADER KSAT2 | Success |
F24 | 24 May 2014 03:05:14 | H2A 202 | ALOS-2 (Daichi 2) RISING-2 UNIFORM-1 SOCRATES SPROUT | Success |
F25 | 7 October 2014 05:16:00 | H2A 202 | Himawari 8 | Success |
F26 | 3 December 2014 04:22:04 | H2A 202 | Hayabusa2 Shin'en 2 ARTSAT2-DESPATCH PROCYON | Success |
F27 | 1 February 2015 01:21:00 | H2A 202 | IGS-Radar Spare | Success |
F28 | 26 March 2015 01:21:00 | H2A 202 | IGS-Optical 5 | Success |
F29 | 24 November 2015 06:50:00 | H2A 204 | Telstar 12 Vantage | Success |
F30 | 17 February 2016 08:45:00 | H2A 202 | ASTRO-H (Hitomi) ChubuSat-2 (Kinshachi 2) ChubuSat-3 (Kinshachi 3) Horyu-4 | Success |
The Hitomi telescope broke apart 37 days after launch. [21] | ||||
F31 | 2 November 2016 06:20:00 | H2A 202 | Himawari 9 | Success |
F32 | 24 January 2017 07:44:00 | H2A 204 | DSN-2 (Kirameki 2) | Success |
F33 | 17 March 2017 01:20:00 | H2A 202 | IGS-Radar 5 | Success |
F34 | 1 June 2017 00:17:46 | H2A 202 | QZS-2 (Michibiki 2) | Success |
F35 | 19 August 2017 05:29:00 | H2A 204 | QZS-3 (Michibiki 3) | Success |
F36 | 9 October 2017 22:01:37 | H2A 202 | QZS-4 (Michibiki 4) | Success |
F37 | 23 December 2017 01:26:22 | H2A 202 | GCOM-C (Shikisai) SLATS (Tsubame) | Success |
F38 | 27 February 2018 04:34:00 | H2A 202 | IGS-Optical 6 | Success |
F39 | 12 June 2018 04:20:00 | H2A 202 | IGS-Radar 6 | Success |
F40 | 29 October 2018 04:08:00 | H2A 202 | GOSAT-2 (Ibuki-2) KhalifaSat Diwata-2B Tenkōh Stars-AO (Aoi) AUTcube2 (Gamacube) | Success |
F41 | 9 February 2020 01:34:00 | H2A 202 | IGS-Optical 7 | Success |
F42 | 19 July 2020 21:58:14 | H2A 202 | Emirates Mars Mission (Hope) | Success |
F43 | 29 November 2020 07:25:00 | H2A 202 | JDRS/LUCAS | Success |
F44 | 26 October 2021 02:19:37 | H2A 202 | QZS-1R | Success |
F45 | 22 December 2021 15:32:00 | H2A 204 | Inmarsat-6 F1 | Success |
F46 | 26 January 2023 01:50:21 | H2A 202 | IGS-Radar 7 | Success |
F47 | 6 September 2023 23:42:11 | H2A 202 | XRISM SLIM | Success |
F48 | 12 January 2024 04:44:26 | H2A 202 | IGS-Optical 8 | Success |
F49 | 26 September 2024 05:24:20 | H2A 202 | IGS-Radar 8 | Success |
F50 | 28 June 2025 16:33:03 | H2A 202 | GOSAT-GW | Success |
Final flight of H-IIA, and H-II family as a whole. |
Notes
Sources