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H-IIA
Expendable medium-lift launch vehicle From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
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Vehicle description and variants
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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]
- The first digit indicates the number of core stages (always 2).
- The second digit indicates the number of liquid rocket boosters, which were planned but never developed (always 0).
- The third digit indicates the number of SRB-A solid rocket boosters (2 or 4).
- The optional fourth digit indicates the number of Castor 4AXL strap-on boosters (2 or 4).
- Launch system status
Retired
Never Flown
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Launch history
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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]
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