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The H–I or H–1 was a Japanese liquid-fuelled 
carrier rocket
A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...
, consisting of a licence-produced American first stage and set of booster rocket
A booster rocket (or engine) is either the first stage of a multistage launch vehicle, or else a shorter-burning rocket used in parallel with longer-burning sustainer rockets to augment the space vehicle's takeoff thrust and payload capability ...
s, and all-Japanese upper stages. The H in the name represented the use of liquid hydrogen fuel in the second stage. It was launched nine times between 1986 and 1992. It replaced the N-II
N-II was the former name for the Route Nacional from Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million ...
, and was subsequently replaced by the H-II, which used the same upper stages with a Japanese first stage.
The first stage of the H–I was a licence-built version of the Thor-ELT, which was originally constructed for the US Delta 1000
The Delta 1000 series (also referred to as Straight-Eight) was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct eight orbital launches between 1972 and 1975. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed, di ...
rocket. The stage had already been produced under licence in Japan for the N-I
The N-I was the former main road from Madrid to France in Spain.
Most of the route has now been replaced by the Autovía A-1 and Autopista AP-1. The A-1 starts at Madrid then goes to Burgos. N-I then runs parallel to AP-1 (toll highway) to Mira ...
and N-II rockets. The second stage was entirely Japanese, using an LE-5
The LE-5 liquid rocket engine and its derivative models were developed in Japan to meet 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 and LOX. Primary design ...
engine, the first rocket engine in Japan to use a cryogenic fuel
Cryogenic fuels are fuels that require storage at extremely low temperatures in order to maintain them in a liquid state. These fuels are used in machinery that operates in space (e.g. rockets and satellites) where ordinary fuel cannot be used, d ...
. On launches to Geosynchronous transfer orbit
A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into a GTO as an intermediate step f ...
s, a Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
–built UM-69A solid motor was used as a third stage. Depending on the mass of the payload, either six or nine US Castor 2 SRMs were used as booster rocket
A booster rocket (or engine) is either the first stage of a multistage launch vehicle, or else a shorter-burning rocket used in parallel with longer-burning sustainer rockets to augment the space vehicle's takeoff thrust and payload capability ...
s.
Launch history
When the H–1 was announced in 1986, company representative Tsuguo Tatakawe clarified that it would only be used to launch indigenous (i.e. Japanese) payloads, that only two launches per year could be mounted, and that the launch window consisted of a four-month period in which Japanese fishing fleets were not active (the falling launch boosters may damage fishing nets in the ocean waters).''Japan's H–1 and H–2 rockets'',Air & Space/Smithsonian
''Air & Space/Smithsonian'' is a quarterly magazine published by the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Linc ...
, February/March 1987, p. 19See also
*Delta rocket
Delta is an American versatile family of expendable launch systems that has provided space launch capability in the United States since 1960. Japan also launched license-built derivatives (N-I, N-II, and H-I) from 1975 to 1992. More than 300 ...
* H-II
*H-IIA
H-IIA (H-2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. These liquid fuel rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit; lunar or ...
*PGM-17 Thor
The PGM-17A Thor was the first operational ballistic missile of the United States Air Force (USAF). Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate-range ballistic m ...
* Comparison of orbital launchers families
This article compares different orbital launcher families (although many launchers that are significantly different from other members of the same 'family' have their own separate entries). The article is organized into two tables: the first tabl ...
* Comparison of orbital launch systems
This comparison of orbital launch systems lists the attributes of all individual rocket configurations designed to reach orbit. A first list contains rockets that are operational or in development as of 2022; a second list includes all retired roc ...
References
* * * Mitsubishi Heavy Industries space launch vehicles Vehicles introduced in 1986 Thor (rocket family) Japan–United States relations {{rocket-stub