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.[1] It was the first two-stage liquid-fuelled rocket Japan made using only technologies developed domestically.[2] It was superseded by the H-IIA rocket following reliability and cost issues.
Function
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Nissan Motors (sub)
Alliant Techsystems (sub, for the SSBs)
Japan
49 m (161 ft)
4 m (13 ft)
260,000 kg (570,000 lb)
2
10,060 kg (22,180 lb)
3,930 kg (8,660 lb)
Retired
7
5
1
1
3 February 1994
15 November 1999
2
1 Solid
1,540 kN (350,000 lbf)
273 s (2.68 km/s)
94 seconds
1 LE-7
1,078 kN (242,000 lbf)
446 s (4.37 km/s)
346 seconds
1 LE-5A
121.5 kN (27,300 lbf)
452 s (4.43 km/s)
600 seconds
History[edit]
Development of the LE-7 engine which started in 1984 was not without hardships, and a worker died in an accidental explosion. The first engine was completed in 1994, two years behind the original schedule. The Rocket Systems Corporation (RSC), a consortium of 74 companies including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nissan Motors, and NEC, was established in 1990 to manage launch operations after the rockets' completion. In 1992, it had 33 employees.[4]
In 1994, NASDA succeeded in launching the first H-II rocket, and succeeded in five launches by 1997. However, each launch cost 19 billion yen (US$190 million), too expensive compared to international competitors like Ariane. (This is in part due to the Plaza Accord's changes to the exchange rate, which was 240 yen to a dollar when the project planning started in 1982, but had changed to 100 yen a dollar by 1994.) Development of the next-generation H-IIA rockets started in order to minimize launch costs.
In 1996, RSC signed a contract with the Hughes Space and Communications Group to launch 10 satellites. The successive failure of flight 5 in 1998 and flight 8 in the following year brought an end to the H-II series and the contract with Hughes.[5] To investigate the cause of the failure and to direct resources into the H-IIA, NASDA cancelled flight 7 (which was to be launched after F8 due to changes in schedule), and terminated the H-II series.[2]
