Japan launches their final H-2A Rocket

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on Saturday (June 28) conducted its 50th and final launch of the H-2A rocket, taking the GOSAT-GW dual-purpose satellite to space.  The mission lifted off from Yoshinobu Launch Complex (LP-1) at the Tenegashima Space Center in Japan at 12:33 p.m. EDT (1633 GMT; 1:33 a.m. June 29, local time in Japan). 

The Greenhouse Gas and Water Cycle Observation Satellite (GOSAT-GW) is the latest in Japan's efforts to observe changes in water cycles and greenhouse gases. GOSAT-GW has joined its predecessors in Earth orbit: GCOM-W2, which launched in 2012 and is known as "SHIZUKU," and GOSAT-1, which launched in 2009 and is known as "IBUKI." 

The H-2A built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been the heart of the Japanese space missions practically since it was first flown in 2001.  It's capable of launching payloads to geosynchronous orbit or to the moon, and even launched the Akatsuki spacecraft to study Venus in 2010, though the spacecraft failed to properly enter Venusian orbit.  

During its nearly 25 years in operation, the rocket experienced only a single launch failure, giving the vehicle a 98% success rate. After 50 missions, the launch vehicle is now being retired to make way for Japan's H3 rocket, which offers comparable performance at a lower cost.

Japan launched its 50th and final H-2A rocket carrying the GOSAT-GW satellite on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (Image credit: JAXA)

Doing a search on "H-2A" I find a couple of mentions here in the blog, mostly missions that got some press in the stateside sources I use, and not much information.  If you'd like to watch a video of this last launch, there's an 85 minute video from JAXA on YouTube, set to start at about 60 seconds before the launch.  It's sorta bilingual with English narration during the active parts of the mission, which is the only way I could understand it.  I seem to have three articles on the H3, a failed first test flight in March of '23 and then the first two successful flights in July and November of '24.