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H-2B

H-2B (HTV 3) [JAXA]

The H-2B rocket is an more powerful development based on the H-2A rocket to launch the HTV (Kounotori) cargo vessels to the ISS.

The H-2B launch vehicle is a LOX/LH2 fueled two-stage rocket, as the H-2A, but has a first-stage body of 5.2 m in diameter compared with 4 m for the H-2A and features two instead of one LE-7B main engines. The H-2B first stage holds 70% more propellant than that of the H-2A. The first stage is augmented by four SRB-A3 strap-on solid rocket boosters. The second stage is the same as used in the H-2A and is powered by a single LE-5B engine.

As payload fairing, a stretched version of the H-2A's 5 m payload fairing is available.

→ all launches of H-2 family vehicles

Version Strap-On Stage 1 Stage 2
H-2B-304 4 × SRB-A Widebody / 2 LE-7A LE-5B
H-2B-304A ** 4 × SRB-A Widebody / 2 × LE-7A Widebody / LE-5B

* = suborbital
** = under study

Performance (kg) LEO LPEO SSO GTO GEO MolO IP
H-2B-304 16500 8000
H-2B-304A 10000

No:  TNr:   Serial:  Type:           Fair     Date:         LS          Payload

 1    1     TF1      H-2B-304        5S-H     10.09.2009    Ta YLP-2    HTV 1 / HREP⇑ / SMILES⇑
 2    2     F2       H-2B-304        5S-H     22.01.2011    Ta YLP-2    HTV 2 (Kounotori 2)
 3    3     F3       H-2B-304        5S-H     21.07.2012    Ta YLP-2    HTV 3 (Kounotori 3) / SCaN-Testbed⇑ / MCE⇑ / Raiko↑ / WE WISH↑ / FITSat 1↑ / F 1↑ /
                                                                        TechEdSat 1↑
 4    4     F4       H-2B-304        5S-H     03.08.2013    Ta YLP-2    HTV 4 (Kounotori 4) / STP-H4⇑ / TechEdSat 3↑ / ArduSat X↑ / ArduSat 1↑ / PicoDragon↑
 5    5     F5       H-2B-304        5S-H     19.08.2015    Ta YLP-2    HTV 5 (Kounotori 5) / CALET⇑ / Flock-2b 1, ..., 14↑ / SERPENS↑ / S-CUBE↑ / GOMX 3↑ /
                                                                        AAUSAT 5↑
 6    6     F6       H-2B-304        5S-H     09.12.2016    Ta YLP-2    HTV 6 (Kounotori 6) / EDT / Lemur-2 18, ..., 21↑ / TechEdSat 5↑ / EGG↑ / TuPOD↑ /
                                                                        AOBA-VELOX 3↑ / STARS C↑ / FREEDOM↑ / ITF 2↑ / Waseda-SAT 3↑ / OSNSAT↑ / Tancredo 1↑
 7    7     F7       H-2B-304        5S-H     22.09.2018    Ta YLP-2    HTV 7 (Kounotori 7) / HSRC / SPATIUM 1↑ / STARS-Me↑ / RSP 00↑
 8    8     F8       H-2B-304        5S-H     24.09.2019    Ta YLP-2    HTV 8 (Kounotori 8) / AQT-D↑ / RWASAT 1↑ / NARSScube 1↑
 9    9     F9       H-2B-304        5S-H     20.05.2020    Ta YLP-2    HTV 9 (Kounotori 9) / iSIM⇑


↑ = deployed via ISS airlock


Launch sites:

Ta  = Tanegashima Space Center, Tanegashima, Japan Japan

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