It is expected that the first launch can take place as early as during the 2021 fiscal year
TOKYO, March 18. /TASS/. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully conducted bench tests of a new two-stage H-III launch vehicle. This is stated in a message published on Thursday on the agency's website.
"As one of the stages in preparation for the launch of the H-III, successful cryogenic tests were conducted at the Tanegashima space center [in southwestern Japan]," JAXA said in a statement.
It is expected that the first launch of the new launch vehicle can take place as early as during the 2021 fiscal year (it will last from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022).
The H-III is Japan's largest liquid-fueled launch vehicle. Its length is 63 m, diameter-5.2 m. It is expected that it will be able to launch a payload weighing more than 4 tons into a sun-synchronous orbit, and a payload weighing more than 6.5 tons into a geotransfer orbit.
According to the Kyodo news agency, in this way, the H-III will be able to launch satellites with a mass of 1.3 times more than its predecessor, the H-IIA launch vehicle. At the same time, the production of the H-III will be less expensive due to its simplified design, which will reduce the launch cost by 50%, to 5 billion yen (about $45.8 million) compared to the H-IIA.