Japan Test Fires Engine for New H3 Launch Vehicle
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Japan continues to make progress toward the first flight of its new H3 launch vehicle with a successful test firing of the booster’s LE-9 first-stage engine on April 30.
JAXA reports that the engine fired for the planned duration of 240 seconds (4 minutes) at the space agency’s Tanegashima Space Center. It was the seventh hot fire of the new engine, which is powered by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
Seventh LE-9 Engine Test
| Test day | April 30, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Test purpose | Confirmation of functions and performance of LE-9 engine certified type |
| Ignition time | 16:01 |
| test time | 240.0 seconds (240.0) |
| Main combustion pressure | 10.59MPa (10.55) |
| Liquid hydrogen turbo pump speed | 40,280 rpm (40,175) |
| Liquid oxygen turbo pump speed | 17,327 rpm (17,252) |
JAXA plans H-3’s first test launch by the end of the nation’s 2020 fiscal year, which began on April 1 and will end on March 31, 2021. It is not known whether work slow downs resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic will affect the schedule.
The two-stage H3 is intended to be a more affordable and flexible replacement for the H-IIA and H-IIB boosters now in use. The new rocket is designed to place payloads weighing 4,000 kg (8,818 lb) or more into sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km (310.7 miles) or 6,500 kg (14,330 lb) into geosynchronous transfer orbit.
H-3’s first stage will be powered by two or three LE-9 engines. The engines have a specific impulse of 425 seconds and weight 2.4 metric tons (2.65 tons).
LE-9 First Stage Engine Specifications
| Item | LE-9 Engine (H3) | LE-7A Engine (H-II) (Reference) |
|---|---|---|
| Engine cycle | Expander bleed | 2-stage combustion |
| Thrust in vacuum | 1471kN (150tonf) 63% Throttling | 1100kN (112tonf) |
| Specific thrust (Isp) | 425s | 440s |
| weight | 2.4ton | 1.8ton |
| full length | 3.75m | 3.7 m |
| Engine mix ratio | 5.9 | 5.9 |
| Combustion pressure | 10.0MPa | 12.3MPa |
| FTP discharge pressure | 19.0 MPa | 28.1MPa |
| OTP discharge pressure | 17.9MPa | 26.6MPa |
| Valve drive system | Continuous control of electric valve operating point | Adjust operating point with pneumatic valve orifice |
Two to four SRB-3 solid-fuel motors can be attached to the first stage to increase the rocket’s payload capacity. SRB-3 will burn for 1 minute 45 seconds with a specific impulse of 283.6 seconds.
H3’s second stage will be powered by the LE-5B-3 engine, which is an upgraded version of the LE-5B-2 motor used on the H-IIA and H-IIB launch vehicles. The engine is powered by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
JAXA’s website says that the 15th certification hot fire of the LE-5B-3 engine was conducted on Feb. 18, 2019, at the space agency’s Tsunoda Space Center in Miyagi Prefecture.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is the prime contractor for the H3, H-IIA and H-IIB boosters.
JAXA’s logs for the LE-9 and SRB-3 engine tests follow.
LE-9 First Stage Engine Tests
Test Location: Tanegashima Space Center (Kagoshima Prefecture)
Figures in parentheses are planned values
Seventh Test
| Test day | April 30, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Test purpose | Confirmation of functions and performance of LE-9 engine certified type |
| Ignition time | 16:01 |
| test time | 240.0 seconds (240.0) |
| Main combustion pressure | 10.59MPa (10.55) |
| Liquid hydrogen turbo pump speed | 40,280 rpm (40,175) |
| Liquid oxygen turbo pump speed | 17,327 rpm (17,252) |
Sixth Test
| Test day | April 25, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Test purpose | Confirmation of functions and performance of LE-9 engine certified type |
| Ignition time | 17:00 |
| test time | 120.1 seconds (140.0) |
| Main combustion pressure | 10.50MPa (10.58) |
| Liquid hydrogen turbo pump speed | 40,197rpm (40,491) |
| Liquid oxygen turbo pump speed | 17,235rpm (17,325) |
| Remarks | Since the inlet pressure of the liquid hydrogen turbo pump reached the preset lower limit value, it automatically stopped. |
Fifth Test
| Test day | April 17, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Test purpose | Confirmation of functions and performance of LE-9 engine certified type |
| Ignition time | 16:00 |
| test time | 210.0 seconds (210.0) |
| Main combustion pressure | 10.6MPa (10.55) |
| Liquid hydrogen turbo pump speed | 41,003 rpm (40,898) |
| Liquid oxygen turbo pump speed | 17,389rpm (17,348) |
Fourth Test
| Test day | April 7, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Test purpose | Confirmation of functions and performance of LE-9 engine certified type |
| Ignition time | 16:26 |
| test time | 6.55 seconds (210.00) |
| Main combustion pressure | – |
| Liquid hydrogen turbo pump speed | – |
| Liquid oxygen turbo pump speed | – |
| Remarks | It was manually stopped due to an abnormality in the test equipment. |
Third Test
| Test day | March 31, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Test purpose | Confirmation of functions and performance of LE-9 engine certified type |
| Ignition time | 17:49 |
| test time | 100.0 seconds (100.0) |
| Main combustion pressure | 10.6MPa (10.3) |
| Liquid hydrogen turbo pump speed | 40,910 rpm (40,722) |
| Liquid oxygen turbo pump speed | 17,355rpm (17,327) |
Second Test
| Test day | February 21, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Test purpose | Acquisition of technical data for LE-9 engine certification type |
| Ignition time | 16:07 |
| test time | 95.0 seconds (95.0) |
| Main combustion pressure | 10.8MPa (11.0) |
| Liquid hydrogen turbo pump speed | 41,499 rpm (41,582) |
| Liquid oxygen turbo pump speed | 17,332rpm (17,408) |
First Test
| Test day | February 13, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Test purpose | Acquisition of technical data for LE-9 engine certification type |
| Ignition time | 16:00 |
| Test time | 101.4 seconds (117.0) |
| Main combustion pressure | 9.39MPa (9.38) |
| Liquid hydrogen turbo pump speed | 39,992rpm (41,250) |
| Liquid oxygen turbo pump speed | 16,360rpm (16,950) |
| Remarks | The number of rotations of the liquid hydrogen turbo pump reached the preset lower limit value, so it automatically stopped. |
SRB-3 Engine Tests
Test Location: Tanegashima Space Center Takezaki Solid Rocket Proving Ground (Kagoshima Prefecture)
Third Test
| Test date | Saturday, February 29, 2020 11:00 ignition |
|---|---|
| Weather | Sunny Wind: 2.7 m / sec Temperature: 19.1 ℃ |
| Burning time | 107.5 seconds (predicted value 108.6 seconds) |
| Maximum thrust | 2173kN (predicted value 2145kN) |
| Maximum combustion pressure | 11.0MPa (predicted value 10.9MPa) |
Second Test
| Test date | Wednesday, August 28, 2019 11:00 ignition |
|---|---|
| Weather | Sunny Wind: 8.0 m / sec Temperature: 29.7 ℃ |
| Burning time | 105.5 seconds (predicted value 106.0 seconds) |
| Maximum thrust | 2209kN (Predicted value 2215kN) |
| Maximum combustion pressure | 11.3MPa (Predicted value 11.3MPa) |
First Test
| Test date | Ignition on Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 16:00 |
|---|---|
| Weather | Sunny wind: 4.5 m / sec Temperature: 29.1 ℃ |
| Burning time | 110.1 seconds |
| Maximum thrust | 2137 kN |
| Maximum combustion pressure | 10.7 MPa |
6 responses to “Japan Test Fires Engine for New H3 Launch Vehicle”
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According to the Wikipedia page, prices for this bird are supposed to start at $50 million dollars, which is quite competitive. Is a new player entering the arena?
I think the H-IIA & B cost roughly double that or more so it’s an impressive deal compared to its forbears.
Pretty much, it’s Japan’s Delta IV. The upper end of the line is more capable than any of the single-stick Delta IVs were – more comparable to a current model F9. But the line has nothing comparable to a Delta IV Heavy though such a three-stick booster configuration is said to be under consideration. That said, model for model, the H-3 appears to offer better performance for the price than the other new hydrolox+SRBs contenders the Ariane 62 and 64.
Nice engine. Hope everything goes nominally.
unless this is designed to be re-usable, it will not be able to compete and will remain another heavily subsidized launch system.
Possibly true. But still cheaper than the Arianes.
Good job.
Best wishes for JAXA and Japan. I think they will make excellent partners for the NASA lunar ambitions!