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29-519: The satellite was launched as the payload on the first launch of the H3 rocket in March 2023. A failure of the second stage engine to ignite led to the rocket along with its payload ALOS-3 being destroyed by use of Flight Termination System (FTS) to prevent risk of falling debris. ALOS-3 had a mass of 3 tonnes, and 7 reaction wheels. ALOS-3 launched from Tanegashima , Japan by a H3 rocket on 7 March 2023. Initially

58-728: A 70-kilometer (43 mi) wide strip of land on Earth. In addition to the RGB and infrared band covered by the predecessor ALOS satellite, ALOS-3 has two additional bandwidths: coastal and red edge. Coastal allows observation underwater up to a depth of 30m, while red edge was to be used to monitor vegetation growth. H3 (rocket) The H3 Launch Vehicle is a Japanese expendable launch system . H3 launch vehicles are liquid-propellant rockets with strap-on solid rocket boosters and are launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and JAXA are responsible for

87-558: A long fairing, whereas an H3-30S has three engines, no solid rocket boosters, and a short fairing. W-type fairing is similar to L-type except wider 5.4 m diameter. W-type was mentioned in the description of JAXA's web page, but not in the current description as of November 2023 . Manufacturing of W-type fairing is contracted to RUAG Space (now Beyond Gravity ), whereas other types are manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. As of November 2018 , three configurations are planned: H3-30, H3-22, and H3-24. A previously mentioned variant,

116-492: A nine-minute burn, but in missions to GTO the engine is often fired a second time to inject the payload into the higher orbit after a temporary low Earth orbit has been established. The original LE-5 was built as a second stage engine for the H-I launch vehicle. It used a fairly conventional gas generator cycle . The LE-5A was a heavily redesigned version of the LE-5 intended for use on

145-463: A payload capacity of 28,300 kg (62,400 lb) to low Earth orbit . H3 will have a "dual-launch capability, but MHI is focused more on dedicated launches" in order to prioritize schedule assurance for customers. As of 2018, MHI is aiming to price the H3 launch service on par with SpaceX's Falcon 9. Sources: Japanese Cabinet The first launch attempt on 17 February 2023 was aborted just before

174-428: A planned dogleg maneuver in order to achieve sun-synchronous orbit and not in fact a loss of control. Approximately five minutes and twenty-seven seconds after launch, the second stage engine failed to ignite. After continuing to be unable to confirm second stage engine ignition, and with the velocity of the rocket continuing to fall, JAXA sent a self-destruct command to the rocket at around L+ 00:14:50 because there

203-448: Is powered by two or three LE-9 engines which uses an expander bleed cycle design similar to the LE-5B engine. The fuel and oxidizer mass of the first stage is 225 metric tons. The second stage is powered by a single engine which is an improved LE-5B. The propellant mass of the second stage is 23 metric tons. Each H3 booster configuration has a two-digit plus letter designation that indicates

232-534: Is the most important factor in achieving cost reduction, improved safety and increased thrust. The expander bleed cycle used in the LE-9 engine is a highly reliable combustion method that Japan has put into practical use for the LE-5A / B engine. However, it is physically difficult for an expander bleed cycle engine to generate large thrust, so the development of the LE-9 engine with a thrust of 1,471 kN (331,000 lb f )

261-476: The 130 kN (30,000 lbf) thrust class. The motor is capable of multiple restarts, due to a spark ignition system as opposed to the single use pyrotechnic or hypergolic igniters commonly used on some contemporary engines. Though rated for up to 16 starts and 40+ minutes of firing time, on the H-II the engine is considered expendable, being used for one flight and jettisoned. It is sometimes started only once for

290-549: The H3 was authorized by the Japanese government on 17 May 2013. The H3 Launch Vehicle is being jointly developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to launch a wide variety of commercial satellites. The H3 was designed with cheaper engines compared to the H-IIA , so that manufacturing the new launch vehicle would be faster, less risky, and more cost-effective. JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries were in charge of preliminary design,

319-510: The H3-32, was cancelled in late 2018 when the performance of the H3-22 variant, sporting one less engine on the core booster, was found to be greater than anticipated, putting it close to the H3-32's performance. While the H3-32 would have provided greater performance, JAXA cited SpaceX 's experience with their Falcon 9 rocket, which routinely lifted commercial communications satellite payloads to less than

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348-591: The SRB-3 boosters ignition, although the main engines were successfully ignited. On the second launch attempt for the H3 Launch Vehicle on 7 March the vehicle launched at 1:37:55 AM UTC (Universal Time Coordinated). Shortly after the SRB-3 boosters separated from the rocket around two minutes into the flight, the rocket appeared to lose control and begin to tumble based on the views from the ground camera; however, based on subsequent analysis, this appears to be part of

377-524: The client had to then load additional propellant onto their satellite for it to reach GEO, than a more expensive H3-32. As of October 2019 , MHI is considering contributing two variants for the Gateway project: an extended second stage variant, and the H3 Heavy variant which would comprise three first-stage liquid-fuel boosters strapped together, similar to Delta IV Heavy and Falcon Heavy . It would have

406-651: The cost of actually lowering the specific impulse to 447 seconds, the lowest of all three models. However, it produced the highest thrust of the three and was significantly cheaper. The primary change from the 5A model was that the 5B's expander bleed system circulated fuel around only the combustion chamber as opposed to both the chamber and the nozzle in the 5A. Alterations to the combustion chamber cooling passages and constituent materials were made with special emphasis on effective heat transfer to allow this method to be successful. After flight F5 of H-IIA on March 28, 2003 resulted in severe (although not damaging) vibration of

435-712: The design, manufacture, and operation of the H3. The H3 is the world's first rocket to use an expander bleed cycle for the first stage engine. As of July 2015 , the minimum configuration is to carry a payload of up to 4,000 kg (8,800 lb) into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) for about 5 billion yen , and the maximum configuration is to carry more than 6,500 kg (14,300 lb) into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The H3-24 variant will deliver more than 6,000 kg (13,000 lb) of payload to lunar transfer orbit (TLI) and 8,800 kg (19,400 lb) of payload to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO)(∆V=1830 m/s). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries supervised

464-451: The development and manufacture of the H3 rocket's airframe and liquid-fuel engines, while IHI Corporation developed and manufactured the liquid-fuel engine turbopumps and solid-fuel boosters, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries developed and manufactured the payload fairings . The carbon fiber and synthetic resin used for the solid fuel booster motor case and payload fairing were developed and manufactured by Toray . The development of

493-411: The electronics in the engine controller were to be replaced with modern components that could be reliably sourced for years to come, and the manufacturing method for the combustion chamber was to be likewise updated for similar reasons. The liquid hydrogen turbopump and turbine nozzle were to be updated for H3's longer mission duration times, and the performance of the liquid oxygen turbopump and fuel mixer

522-485: The features of that configuration. The first digit represents the number of LE-9 engines on the main stage, either "2" or "3". The second digit indicates the number of SRB-3 solid rocket boosters attached to the base of the rocket and can be "0", "2", or "4". All layouts of the solid boosters are symmetrical. The letter at the end shows the length of the payload fairing, either short, or "S", or long, or "L". For example, an H3-24L has two engines, four solid rocket boosters, and

551-455: The gold standard geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) of 1,500 m/s (4,900 ft/s) of delta-V remaining to get to geostationary orbit , leaving the satellites themselves to make up the difference. As commercial clients were apparently willing to be flexible, JAXA proposed redefining their reference transfer orbit to something lower, believing commercial clients would prefer the less expensive (if slightly less capable) H3-22 rocket, even if

580-530: The hydrogen heats up incredibly while simultaneously cooling those components. The heating of the initially cold fuel causes it to expand, and it is utilized to drive the turbine for the propellant pumps. The LE-5B  [ ja ] was a further modified version of the LE-5A. The changes focused on lowering the per-unit cost of the engine while continuing to increase reliability. The modifications veered towards simplification and cheaper production where possible at

609-471: The launch was scheduled for 17 February but was aborted seconds before liftoff. March 2023 March 2023 If it had been successfully launched, ALOS-3 would have been an Earth observation satellite and was to be used to monitor natural disasters as well as for cartography. ALOS-3 carried OPS (OPtical Sensor), a multi-band optical camera which is an upgrade from the PRISM sensor. OPS was capable of observing

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638-446: The need for an upper stage propulsion system for the H-I and H-II series of launch vehicles. It is a bipropellant design, using LH 2 and LOX . Primary design and production work was carried out by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries . In terms of liquid rockets, it is a fairly small engine, both in size and thrust output, being in the 89 kN (20,000 lbf) and the more recent models

667-400: The new H-II launch vehicle's second stage. The major difference is that the operation of the engine was switched from the gas generator to expander bleed cycle . The LE-5A was the world's first expander bleed cycle engine to be put into operational service. Cryogenic liquid hydrogen fuel for the cycle is drawn through tubes and passages in both the engine's nozzle and combustion chamber where

696-550: The readiness of ground facilities, development of new technologies for the H3, and manufacturing. The main emphasis in design is cost reduction, with planned launch costs for customers in the range of around US$ 37 million. In 2015, the first H3 was planned to be launched in fiscal year 2020 in the H3-30 configuration (which lacks solid-rocket boosters), and in a later configuration with boosters in FY2021. The newly developed LE-9 engine

725-480: The upper stage during LE-5B firing, work was initiated on an upgraded version of the LE-5B. The upgraded engine, named LE-5B-2, was first flown on a H-IIB on September 10, 2009. The main fixes were adding flow-laminarizing plates in the expander manifold, a new mixer of gaseous and liquid hydrogen in the hydrogen feed line, and a new injector plate with 306 smaller coaxial injectors (versus 180 in LE-5B). The upgrade reduced

754-412: The vibrations produced by the upper stage by half. For the new H3 launch vehicle, the veteran design of the LE-5B was once again revisited. To meet the requirements of the H3 and to ensure a stable supply of parts over H3's lifetime, performance was to be improved and costs were to be lowered, all while keeping development risk as low as possible. Obsolete parts that were becoming hard to acquire such as

783-532: Was "no possibility of achieving the mission". The payload onboard was the ALOS-3 satellite, which was also destroyed with the launch vehicle on the moment of self-destruct. On 17 February 2024, JAXA finally successfully launched the second testing rocket which has the same configuration as the first one, H3-22S, and the second stage reached the desired orbit. LE-5 The LE-5 liquid rocket engine and its derivative models were developed in Japan to meet

812-722: Was the most challenging and important development element. Firing tests of the LE-9 first-stage engine began in April 2017, with the first tests of the solid rocket boosters occurring in August 2018. On 21 January 2022, the launch of the first H3 was rescheduled to FY 2022 or later, citing technical problems regarding the first stage LE-9 engine. The H3 Launch Vehicle is a two-stage launch vehicle. The first stage uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants and carries zero, two or four strap-on solid rocket boosters (SRBs) (derived from SRB-A ) using polybutadiene fuel. The first stage

841-471: Was to be improved. The first example of the updated design was test fired in March, 2017. On the H3 launch vehicles first flight on March 7, 2023, the first stage, consisting of two SRB-3 , and two LE-9 engines, performed nominally up until stage separation. Following separation, ignition of the LE-5B-3 could not be confirmed, and velocity started dropping significantly. At L+ 00:14:50, a self-destruct command

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