TIM FURNISS / LONDON
H2A veers off course and loses altitude and speed before first-stage separation
A Mitsubishi-built Japan Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) H2A booster was deliberately destroyed at T+10min 53s after launch from Tanegashima on 29 November after one of the $78 million rocket's SRB-A solid rocket strap-on boosters failed to jettison. This caused the H2A to veer off course and to lose altitude and speed by the time the first stage, with the errant booster attached, had separated and the second stage had ignited.
The rocket was carrying the second pair of a planned fleet of eight intelligence gathering satellites, IGS 2A and 2B. The IGS 1A and 1B imaging and radar reconnaissance satellites were launched by another H2A earlier this year. The satellites are primarily to monitor military activities in nearby North Korea, especially the development of a long-range missile.
The first new-series H2A booster - developed after two back-to-back failures of the earlier H2 in 1998-9 - was launched on a successful test flight in August 2001. The second launch with two satellites in February 2002 suffered the failed separation of one of the craft.
This was followed by two further successful launches in 2002 and one in March this year. The H2A is being promoted as a commercial launcher and features in a joint alternative commercial launcher agreement with Arianespace and Boeing, but it is unlikely to be regarded as an insurable commercial launcher for some time.
Source: Flight International
