Japan unveils new space rocket

Japan's space agency and industrial giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) last week unveiled the H-2B rocket's body to a group of reporters, but only after submitting them to a rigorous procedure of finger-printing, an air shower to remove all dust and a requirement to wear chemical suits.

"We expect to make a trial launch toward the middle of this year if all the manufacturing and intermediary steps proceed well," said Tomihisa Nakamura, a researcher who heads the project at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The H-2B -- designed to take supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) and launch satellites -- is more imposing than its predecessor, the H-2A.

When it is ready, the H-2B is expected to be 56 meters (185 feet) tall, three meters more than its sister rocket. The rocket is 5.2 meters wide -- compared to four meters for the H-2A -- weighs 530 tonnes, and is equipped with two engines and four auxiliary propellers or "boosters."

The H-2B is initially intended to bring supplies of up to six tonnes per year via an unmanned HTV spacecraft, or "H-2 Transfer Vehicle," to the International Space Station.

The enormous pieces making up the new rocket are currently laid out horizontally in the hermetic hangars of MHI's vast space development site in the central Japanese city of Nagoya.

The H-2B is expected to be able to release an HTV weighing up to 16.5 tonnes into orbit as well as satellites with a combined weight of eight tonnes. These abilities are necessary to compete well internationally.

In addition to developing Japan's space programme, the H-2B was designed to boost MHI's competitiveness against well-known launch services such as Europe's Ariane, and Sea Launch operated by US-based Boeing.

Including the costs of developing and producing the first model, Japan's space agency and the MHI are expected to invest yen 40 billion (USD 444 million).

"The design costs are small compared to those of the H-2A, of an Ariane or another launcher, because we are reusing a lot of elements and knowledge gained from the H-2A. That also minimises the risks," said JAXA's Nakamura.

"Meanwhile we used manufacturing procedures that are new and more efficient," underlined Tomohiko Goto, who heads the project under MHI. Officials hope that a series of successful launches will boost the rocket's reputation -- and that of MHI -- in Japan and abroad.

But the company last month signed a deal with South Korea to launch the multi-purpose Arirang 3 satellite in 2011 using the H-2A, which would be the first commercial order for a Japanese-made rocket.

Up until now, the H-2A listed nine successful launches in a row since 2005, recovering from a blow in late 2003 when it failed its sixth mission -- an accident that delayed its goal of being an international player.