Japan is to conduct two test flights of the uprated H2A launcher in 2001. The move follows concerns about the technical competence of the H2 programme after back-to-back failures last year, which caused the cancellation of this year's flight. The H2A, an H2 with new strap-on boosters and uprated first and second stage cryogenic engines, will carry a test payload on the first flight and a Mission Development Satellite on the second.
Source: Flight International