H-IIB

H-IIB

H-IIB No. F8 at the launch pad in September 2019
Function	Medium-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Country of origin	Japan
Cost per launch	US$112.5 million[1]
Size
Height	56.6 m (186 ft)
Diameter	5.2 m (17 ft)
Mass	531,000 kg (1,171,000 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	19,000 kg (42,000 lb)[2]
Payload to ISS (carrying the HTV)
Mass	16,500 kg (36,400 lb)[3]
Payload to GTO
Mass	8,000 kg (18,000 lb)[4]
Associated rockets
Family	H-II family
Based on	H-II, H-IIA
Derivative work	H3
Comparable	Ariane 5 ES Atlas V 541 Falcon 9 Full Thrust Proton-M
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Tanegashima, LA-Y2
Total launches	9
Success(es)	9
First flight	10 September 2009
Last flight	20 May 2020
Type of passengers/cargo	H-II Transfer Vehicle
Boosters – SRB-A3
No. boosters	4
Height	15 m (49 ft)
Diameter	2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Gross mass	76,500 kg (168,700 lb) each
Propellant mass	66,000 kg (146,000 lb) each
Maximum thrust	2,305 kN (518,000 lbf)
Total thrust	9,220 kN (2,070,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	283.6 s (2.781 km/s)
Burn time	114 seconds
Propellant	HTPB
First stage
Height	38 m (125 ft)
Diameter	5.2 m (17 ft)
Gross mass	202,000 kg (445,000 lb)
Propellant mass	177,800 kg (392,000 lb)
Powered by	2 × LE-7A
Maximum thrust	2,196 kN (494,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	440 seconds (4.3 km/s)
Burn time	352 seconds
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
Second stage
Height	11 m (36 ft)
Diameter	4.0 m (13.1 ft)
Gross mass	20,000 kg (44,000 lb)
Propellant mass	16,600 kg (36,600 lb)
Powered by	1 × LE-5B
Maximum thrust	137 kN (31,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	448 s (4.39 km/s)
Burn time	499 seconds
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
[edit on Wikidata]

H-IIB (H2B) was an expendable space launch system jointly developed by the Japanese government's space agency JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was used to launch the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV, or Kōnotori) cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station. The H-IIB was a liquid-fueled rocket, with solid-fuel strap-on boosters and was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. H-IIB made its first flight in 2009, and had made a total of nine flights through 2020 with no failures.

H-IIB was able to carry a payload of up to 8,000 kg (18,000 lb) to Geostationary transfer orbit (GTO),^[4] compared with the payload of 4000–6000 kg for the H-IIA, a predecessor design. Its performance to low Earth orbit (LEO) was sufficient for the 16,500 kg (36,400 lb) H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV).^[4] The first H-IIB was launched in September 2009 and the last H-IIB was launched in May 2020.^[4]