H-IIB

H-IIB

Liftoff of H-IIB Flight 2
Function	Launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Country of origin	Japan
Size
Height	56.6 m (186 ft)
Diameter	5.2 m (17 ft)
Mass	531,000 kg (1,171,000 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO	19,000 kg (42,000 lb)
Payload to GTO	8,000 kg (18,000 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	H-II
Comparable	Ariane 5
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	LA-Y, Tanegashima
Total launches	6
Successes	6
First flight	10 September 2009
Notable payloads	H-II Transfer Vehicle
Boosters - SRB-A3
No. boosters	4
Length	15 m (49 ft)
Diameter	2.5 m (8.2 ft)
Gross mass	306,000 kg (675,000 lb) (for four SRB-As in total)
Propellant mass	263,800 kg (581,600 lb) (for four SRB-As in total)
Thrust	Vacuum: 2,305 kN (518,000 lbf)
Total thrust	Vacuum: 9,220 kN (2,070,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	Vacuum: 283.6 s (2.781 km/s)
Burn time	114 seconds
Fuel	HTPB
First stage
Length	38 m (125 ft)
Diameter	5.2 m (17 ft)
Gross mass	202,000 kg (445,000 lb)
Propellant mass	177,800 kg (392,000 lb)
Engines	2 LE-7A
Thrust	Vacuum: 2,196 kN (494,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	Vacuum: 440 s (4.3 km/s)
Burn time	352 seconds
Fuel	LOX / LH2
Second stage
Length	11 m (36 ft)
Diameter	4.0 m (13.1 ft)
Gross mass	20,000 kg (44,000 lb)
Propellant mass	16,600 kg (36,600 lb)
Engines	1 LE-5B
Thrust	Vacuum: 137 kN (31,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	Vacuum: 448 s (4.39 km/s)
Burn time	499 seconds
Fuel	LOX / LH2

H-IIB (H2B) is an expendable launch system used to launch H-II Transfer Vehicles (HTV, or Kounotori) towards the International Space Station. H-IIB rockets are liquid-fuelled with solid-fuel strap-on boosters and are launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. Mitsubishi and JAXA have been primarily responsible for design, manufacture, and operation of H-IIB. H-IIB made its first flight in 2009, and has made a total of five flights through 2015.

H-IIB is able to carry a payload of up to 8,000 kilograms (18,000 lb) to GTO, compared with the payload of 4,000-6,000 kg for the H-IIA, a predecessor design. Its performance to LEO is sufficient for the 16,500 kg (36,400 lb) HTV. The first H-IIB was launched in September 2009.

The H-IIB launch vehicle is a launch vehicle developed jointly by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to launch the H-II Transfer Vehicle. The H-IIB was designed to adopt methods and components that have already been verified by flights on the H-IIA, so that manufacturing the new launch vehicle would be more cost-effective, with less risk, in a shorter period of time. JAXA was in charge of preliminary design, readiness of the ground facility, and the development of new technologies for the H-IIB, in which the private sector has limited competencies, while the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is responsible for manufacturing. JAXA successfully conducted eight firing tests of the new cluster design with the simulated first-stage propulsion system, called Battleship Firing Tests, since March 2008, at MHI's Tashiro Test Facility in Odate, Akita Prefecture.