Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE
Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) has cancelled the H-2 launch vehicle programme and suspended several others, to focus development efforts on the H-2A rocket.
Japanese space industry sources confirm that NASDA has completely reviewed its programmes and budget for the 2000 fiscal year, following the failure of H-2 No 8 in mid-November. At the end of last year, the agency told the Space Activities Commission that it would cancel the construction of H-2 No 7, killing the programme.
Other NASDA programmes affected by the review include the HOPE-X orbiter development, the Mission Demonstration Test Satellite, the Data Relay Test Satellite and the Engineering Test Satellite ETS-VIII. All these have been suspended, although industry sources say NASDA plans to revive them once the H-2A is successful.
H-2 No 7, which slipped behind No 8 in the mission sequence, is nearly 90% complete and was scheduled for launch this year. The switch to H-2A will reportedly save NASDA about ¥3 billion ($28.3 million) compared with modifications to the H-2 vehicle.
Sources say the cancellation of H-2 will cause a delay of about a year in Japan's satellite launch schedule. The first H-2A launch is set for early next year, following testing of the LE-7A first stage engine, the LE-5B second stage engine and the SRB-A solid rocket booster this year.
The LE-5B was to have been tested in H-2 No 8, replacing the standard H-2 second stage engine.
The test programme on these engines has been extended following the discovery that the No 8 failure was caused by cracks in the liquid hydrogen fuel tank or combustion chamber. As a result, the turbopump stopped 4min after launch, causing the booster to veer off course.
The accident, which followed the failure of H-2 No 5, cost NASDA, the Civil Aviation Bureau and the Meteorological Agency ¥34.3 billion. The launcher was carrying the transport ministry's multifunctional transport satellite (MT-SAT).
The ministry has secured funding for a second MT-SAT, due to be launched in fiscal year 2002.
The H-2A programme was launched in 1996 to cut the price of H-2 launches. It has simpler avionics and engines and a new second stage, with a redesigned structure separating the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks.
Source: Flight International
