Launch Vehicles

H3

Japan

Citation Formats

General Reference

Space and Astronomy Atlas. "H3." Accessed September 1, 2026. https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/launch-vehicles/h3-rocket.

APA Style

Space and Astronomy Atlas. (n.d.). H3. Retrieved September 1, 2026, from https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/launch-vehicles/h3-rocket

BibTeX

@misc{spaceandastronomyatlas-h3,
  author = {Space and Astronomy Atlas},
  title = {H3},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/launch-vehicles/h3-rocket},
  note = {Accessed September 1, 2026}
}

Japan's current-generation launch vehicle, designed to roughly halve launch costs compared with the H-IIA through simplified manufacturing and a new first-stage engine. Its debut flight in March 2023 failed when the second-stage engine did not ignite, but the redesigned vehicle returned to successful flight the following year.

Facts

Vehicle Class

Heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle 1

Manufacturer

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 1

First Flight Date

2023-03-07 1

Date of its failed debut flight; a redesigned second stage returned it to successful flight in 2024.

Status

Operational, becoming Japan's primary launch vehicle as the H-IIA is retired. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Operated By

JAXA

Source Encyclopedia Astronautica

Sources

1. Encyclopedia Astronautica

Comments (0)

No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.

Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)

No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.

Switch Atlas

The Inner World

The Civil World

The Natural World

H3