The Japanese Aerospace Agency Will Launch The Second Trial Of The H3 Rocket

The H3 Rocket of the Indonesian Board of Japan. (doc. JAXA)

JAKARTA - The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that the H3 Launching Vehicle will undergo a second trial. This launch is referred to as H3 Flight Test Number 2 (H3TF2).

From the release that JAXA shared, H3TF2 will launch from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center on February 15 next year. This rocket will launch with Vehicle Evaluation Payload-4 (VEP-4).

If there are unwanted obstacles, JAXA has set a launch window from February 16 to March 31. Although the exact date is not determined, this launch will depend on weather conditions.

In this second trial, H3TF2 will carry two payloads called piggyback payloads to be inserted into orbit, but the location of the orbit is not yet known. These two small charge are CE-SAT-IE and TIRSAT.

The H3 launch vehicle first underwent its first trial (H3TF1) in March. The location of the take-off is the same as the second launch, namely at the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center with the ALOS-3 satellite.

Unfortunately, this inaugural launch did not go well because the second phase of H3 failed to deploy the ALOS-3 optical satellite to the 669 kilometer Solar Synchron orbit (SSO). The satellite was lost and could not be found.

The launch in March was not the first time H3 had failed. In mid-February, the rocket also failed to carry the payload into orbit because two of its booster engines were not on. The rocket carrying the ALOS-3 failed to launch and remained in the takeoff area.