Japan's National Space Development Agency says the maiden flight of the new H2A booster is likely to be delayed by a year, to early 2001, after the failure of the H2S model last month. This was the second successive failed launch for the original H2 booster. The H2S carried an uprated upper-stage engine designed to fly on the H2A, but this was not to blame for the November loss, which was caused by cracks in the first-stage engine.
Source: Flight International