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N-I (rocket)
Encyclopedia
The N-I or N-1 was a derivative of the American Delta rocket, produced under licence in Japan. It used a Thor-ELT first stage, a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
-designed LE-3 engine was used as a second stage, and three Castor SRMs. Seven were launched between 1975 and 1982, before it was replaced by the N-II
. Six of the seven launches were successful, however on the fifth flight, there was recontact between the satellite and the third stage, which caused the satellite to fail.
On 29 February 1976, the second N-I conducted the only orbital launch to occur on a leap day (as of year 2008).
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...
-designed LE-3 engine was used as a second stage, and three Castor SRMs. Seven were launched between 1975 and 1982, before it was replaced by the N-II
N-II (rocket)
The N-II or N-2 was a derivative of the American Delta rocket, produced under licence in Japan. 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...
. Six of the seven launches were successful, however on the fifth flight, there was recontact between the satellite and the third stage, which caused the satellite to fail.
On 29 February 1976, the second N-I conducted the only orbital launch to occur on a leap day (as of year 2008).
Launch history
| Date/Time (GMT) | S/N | Payload | Orbit | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1975, 05:30 | 1(F) | ETS-1 (JETS-1/Kiku-1) | LEO Low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km... |
|
| 29 February 1976, 03:30 | 2(F) | ISS-1 (JISS-1/Ume-1) | LEO Low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km... |
|
| 23 February 1977, 08:50 | 3(F) | ETS-2 (Kiku-2) | GTO | 3rd stage used |
| 15 February 1978, 04:00 | 4(F) | ISS-2 (JISS-2/Ume-2) | LEO Low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km... |
|
| 6 February 1979, 08:46 | 5(F) | ECS-A (Ayame-1) | GTO | 3rd stage used Failure – Recontact between satellite and upper stage. |
| 22 February 1980, 08:35 | 6(F) | ECS-B (Ayame-2) | GTO | 3rd stage used |
| 3 September 1982, 05:00 | 9(F) | ETS-3 (Kiku-3) | LEO Low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km... |
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