Japan’s flagship H-2Arocket successfully launched a climate change monitoring satellite on Sunday. This was the rocket’s last flight before a new flagship that is more cost-competitive in the global space market takes its place.
As part of Tokyo’s efforts to combat climate change, the GOSAT-GW satellite was carried by the H-2A rocket that took out from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwest Japan. About sixteen minutes later, the satellite was launched into its intended orbit.
The rocket’s electrical systems malfunctioned, causing several days of delays before the launch.
The H-2A, which has been Japan’s primary rocket for launching satellites and probes into orbit with an almost flawless record since its 2001 debut, made its 50th and last flight on Sunday. The H3, which is currently in use, will completely replace it as Japan’s new primary flagship after it retires.
Iwao Igarashi, senior general manager of the space systems division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which ran launch services, stated that although our launches appeared solid, we have encountered challenges and surmounted them one at a time to get thus far. We will steadfastly uphold the confidence we established with H-2A as we proceed to the H3 launch service.”
The third series in the mission to track carbon, methane, and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is called GOSAT-GW, or Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse Gases and Water Cycle. According to officials, it will begin providing users worldwide, including the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with data with significantly higher precision within a year, including sea surface temperature and precipitation.
With just one failure in 2003, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s liquid-fuel H-2A rocket with two solid-fuel sub-rockets has flown 49 times so far with a 98% success rate. Since 2007, Mitsubishi Heavy has supplied its launch operation.
In support of Japan’s space programs, H-2A successfully launched numerous satellites and probes into space, including the popular Hayabusa2 mission in 2014 to reach a far-off asteroid and the lunar lander SLIM last year.
Japan has been developing two new flagship rockets as successors to the H-2A series: the much smaller Epsilonsystem with the aerospace unit of the heavy machinery maker IHI, and the larger H3 with Mitsubishi. Japan views a stable, commercially competitive space transport capability as essential to its space program and national security. It wants to strengthen its position in the expanding satellite launch business and satisfy a range of client needs.
Although officials claim more cost-cutting measures are required to attain improved price competitiveness in the global market, the H3 is built to carry heavier payloads than the H-2A at around half its launch cost to be globally competitive.
Following a botched 2023 debut attempt in which the rocket had to be destroyed with its cargo, the H3 has already completed four consecutive successful flights.
