H-IIA

H-IIA (H-2A) is a retired Japanese expendable launch system that was developed and operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in collaboration with 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.

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.

Vehicle description and variants

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":

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).

Status

Designation Masst (lb) Payload to GTOt (lb) Boosters H2A 202 2 × SRB-A (SRB) H2A2022 2 × SRB-A (SRB) + H2A 2024 2 × SRB-A (SRB) + H2A 204 4 × SRB-A (SRB) H2A 212 2 × SRB-A (SRB) + 1 × LRB H2A 222 2 × SRB-A (SRB) + 2 × LRBs

Launch history

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 launched the Telstar 12V satellite, the first commercial primary payload for a Japanese launch vehicle.

Flight Date (UTC) Type Payload(s) Outcome 29 August 200107:00:00 H2A 202 VEP 2LRE 4 February 200202:45:00 H2A 2024 VEP 3MDS-1 (Tsubasa)DASH F3 10 September 200208:20:00 H2A 2024 USERSDRTS (Kodama) F4 14 December 200201:31:00 H2A 202 ADEOS 2 (Midori 2)WEOS (Kanta-kun)FedSat 1Micro LabSat 1 F5 28 March 2003 01:27:00 H2A 2024 IGS-Optical 1IGS-Radar 1 F6 29 November 200304:33:00 H2A 2024 IGS-OpticalIGS-Radar 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. F7 26 February 200509:25:00 H2A 2022 MTSAT-1R (Himawari 6) F8 24 January 200601:33:00 H2A 2022 ALOS (Daichi) F9 18 February 200606:27:00 H2A 2024 MTSAT-2 (Himawari 7) F10 11 September 200604:35:00 H2A 202 IGS-Optical 2 F11 18 December 200606:32:00 H2A 204 ETS-VIII (Kiku 8) F12 24 February 200704:41:00 H2A 2024 IGS-Radar 2IGS-Optical 3V F13 14 September 200701:31:01 H2A 2022 SELENE (Kaguya) F14 23 February 200808:55:00 H2A 2024 WINDS (Kizuna) F15 23 January 200903:54:00 H2A 202 GOSAT (Ibuki)SDS-1STARS (Kūkai)KKS-1 (Kiseki)PRISM (Hitomi)Sohla-1 (Maido 1)SORUNSAT-1 (Kagayaki)SPRITE-SAT (Raijin) F16 28 November 200901:21:00 H2A 202 IGS-Optical 3 F17 20 May 201021:58:22 H2A 202 PLANET-C (Akatsuki)IKAROSUNITEC-1 (Shin'en)Waseda-SAT2K-Sat (Hayato)Negai☆″ F18 11 September 201011:17:00 H2A 202 QZS-1 (Michibiki) F19 23 September 201104:36:50 H2A 202 IGS-Optical 4 F20 12 December 201101:21:00 H2A 202 IGS-Radar 3 F21 17 May 201216:39:00 H2A 202 GCOM-W1 (Shizuku)KOMPSAT-3 (Arirang 3)SDS-4 HORYU-2 F22 27 January 201304:40:00 H2A 202 IGS-Radar 4IGS-Optical 5V F23 27 February 201418:37:00 H2A 202 GPM-Core SindaiSat (Ginrei) STARS-II (Gennai) TeikyoSat-3 ITF-1 (Yui) OPUSAT (CosMoz) INVADER KSAT2 F24 24 May 201403:05:14 H2A 202 ALOS-2 (Daichi 2) RISING-2 UNIFORM-1 SOCRATES SPROUT F25 7 October 201405:16:00 H2A 202 Himawari 8 F26 3 December 201404:22:04 H2A 202 Hayabusa2Shin'en 2ARTSAT2-DESPATCHPROCYON F27 1 February 201501:21:00 H2A 202 IGS-Radar Spare F28 26 March 201501:21:00 H2A 202 IGS-Optical 5 F29 24 November 201506:50:00 H2A 204 Telstar 12 Vantage F30 17 February 201608:45:00 H2A 202 ASTRO-H (Hitomi)ChubuSat-2 (Kinshachi 2)ChubuSat-3 (Kinshachi 3)Horyu-4 The Hitomi telescope broke apart 37 days after launch. F31 2 November 201606:20:00 H2A 202 Himawari 9 F32 24 January 201707:44:00 H2A 204 DSN-2 (Kirameki 2) F33 17 March 201701:20:00 H2A 202 IGS-Radar 5 F34 1 June 201700:17:46 H2A 202 QZS-2 (Michibiki 2) F35 19 August 201705:29:00 H2A 204 QZS-3 (Michibiki 3) F36 9 October 201722:01:37 H2A 202 QZS-4 (Michibiki 4) F37 23 December 201701:26:22 H2A 202 GCOM-C (Shikisai)SLATS (Tsubame) F38 27 February 201804:34:00 H2A 202 IGS-Optical 6 F39 12 June 201804:20:00 H2A 202 IGS-Radar 6 F40 29 October 201804:08:00 H2A 202 GOSAT-2 (Ibuki-2)KhalifaSatDiwata-2BTenkōhStars-AO (Aoi)AUTcube2 (Gamacube) F41 9 February 202001:34:00 H2A 202 IGS-Optical 7 F42 19 July 202021:58:14 H2A 202 Emirates Mars Mission (Hope) F43 29 November 202007:25:00 H2A 202 JDRS/LUCAS F44 26 October 202102:19:37 H2A 202 QZS-1R F45 22 December 202115:32:00 H2A 204 Inmarsat-6 F1 F46 26 January 202301:50:21 H2A 202 IGS-Radar 7 F47 6 September 202323:42:11 H2A 202 XRISMSLIM F48 12 January 202404:44:26 H2A 202 IGS-Optical 8 F49 26 September 202405:24:20 H2A 202 IGS-Radar 8 F50 28 June 202516:33:03 H2A 202 GOSAT-GW Final flight of H-IIA, and H-II family as a whole.

H-IIA

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