Japan H3 Rocket No. 6 Satellite Launch | Tanegashima Space Center

Japan H3 Rocket No. 6 Satellite Launch | Tanegashima Space Center

🚀H3 Rocket No. 6 was successfully launched from Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan at 9:53:59 a.m. on June 12, 2026. This was the debut of the H3-30 configuration: three LE-9 engines and no strap-on solid rocket boosters (SRBs). Onboard was a test satellite for flight data verification, plus six university/organization microsatellites. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) says the model is lighter and less expensive than other H3 types. It is the country's first rocket launch powered solely by liquid-fuel engines.

The H3 is a Japanese medium-lift launch vehicle developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). A hydrolox-fuelled rocket, it is the successor to the H-IIA and H-IIB launch vehicles. The H3 uses the LE-9 main engine, which was designed to be less expensive to produce as part of a broader effort to lower launch costs. The rocket has a modular design. Its first stage is powered by two or three LE-9 engines and can be fitted with zero, two, or four SRB-3 solid rocket boosters. The second stage uses the LE-5B-3 engine, an upgraded version of the engine family used since the H-I rocket.

In addition to launching satellites into Earth orbit, the H3 is used to launch Japan's HTV-X cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Image Credit: JAXA
Image Dates: March 12-June 12, 2026

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