Orbital launch vehicle

N-2

The N-II or N-2 was a derivative of the American Delta rocket, produced under licence in Japan. It replaced the N-I-rocket in Japanese use. It used a Thor-ELT first stage, a Delta-F second stage, nine Castor SRMs, and on most flights either a Star-37E or Burner-2 upper stage, identical to the US Delta 0100 series configurations. Eight were launched between 1981 and 1987, before it was replaced by the H-I, which featured Japanese-produced upper stages. All eight launches were successful.

Flights flown8
Success rate100%8/8
Payload to LEO2,000kg
Maiden flight1981-02-11
Peak year19812 flights

N-2 is built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan. It first flew on 11 February 1981 and last flew on 19 February 1987.

Flight record

8 records
100% success rate8 of 8 flown
1981peak 1981 · 2 flights1987
First flight1981-02-11
Latest flight1987-02-19
Failures0
Consecutive successes8
Fastest turnaround170d 11h

Payload

Per mission profile
Low Earth orbit2,000kg
Geostationary transfer orbit730kg

Vehicle

2 spec
Stages3
Length35m
Diameter2.44m
Launch mass132t
Liftoff thrust2,278kN
Maiden flight1981-02-11
ReusableNo

Pads used

1 pad

Orbits delivered

2 orbits
Geostationary Orbit6Low Earth Orbit2

Launch history

8 launches
DateMissionPadOrbitOutcome
1987-02-19N-2 | Momo 1aOsaki Launch ComplexLow Earth OrbitSuccess
1986-02-12N-2 | Yuri 2BOsaki Launch ComplexGeostationary OrbitSuccess
1984-08-02N-2 | Himawari 3Osaki Launch ComplexGeostationary OrbitSuccess
1984-01-23N-2 | Yuri 2AOsaki Launch ComplexGeostationary OrbitSuccess
1983-08-05N-2 | Sakura 2BOsaki Launch ComplexGeostationary OrbitSuccess
1983-02-04N-2 | Sakura 2AOsaki Launch ComplexGeostationary OrbitSuccess
1981-08-10N-2 | Himawari 2Osaki Launch ComplexGeostationary OrbitSuccess
1981-02-11N-2 | Kiku-3Osaki Launch ComplexLow Earth OrbitSuccess

Specifications from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs, launch records from Space Index. Derived figures are computed here; see sources and method.

Further reading: Wikipedia