Japanese Space Launch Vehicles - H-Iia, M-V, Gx, Mu, Lambda, J-I (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Not illustrated. Excerpt: H-IIA (H2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been use to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch an interplanetary space probe to Venus. Launches occur at the Tanegashima Space Center. Production and management of the H-IIA shifted from JAXA to MHI on April 1, 2007. Flight 13, which launched the lunar orbiter SELENE, was the first H-IIA launched after this privatization. The H-IIA is a derivative of the earlier H-II rocket, substantially redesigned to improve reliability and minimize costs. There are four different variants of the H-IIA for various purposes. 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. The first two figures are virtually fixed at "20", as H-IIA is always two-staged, and the plans for LRBs (Liquid rocket boosters) were cancelled and superseded by the H-IIB. As of 2007 there are four different configurations shown in the following table. 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. JAXA announced that launches would resume in 2005, and indeed th... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=903898