MHI Ships the Last H-IIB Launch Vehicle (No. 9) -- Final Shipment from Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works Tobishima Plant --

Nagoya, March 17, 2020 - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) shipped the core of the last H-IIB Launch Vehicle (No. 9) from the Tobishima Plant of the Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works in Aichi Prefecture to the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. All nine H-IIB Launch Vehicles have been shipped from the Tobishima Plant over the course of 11 years, tracing back to the first shipment in February 2009. Their outstanding quality has contributed significantly to the vehicles' 100% successful launch rate.

The H-IIB is Japan's primary large-scale launch vehicle. Based on the technology of the H-IIA, the H-IIB has offered significantly enhanced launch capacity enabled by increased engine propulsion and large-scale satellite fairings protecting the payload. The H-IIB Launch Vehicles have served to launch the H-II Transfer Vehicles "KOUNOTORI" (HTVs) the cargo transporter to the ISS. The ISS functions as an internationally operated, manned experimental space facility located some 400 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The Tobishima Plant has undertaken assembly, parts installation and functional testing of all H-IIB Launch Vehicles.

Going forward, MHI will continue to focus on maintaining the outstanding strength and quality of its space-related technologies while also pursuing ever-higher productivity, making further contributions to the aerospace industry through its H-IIA launch services and development of the H3 Launch Vehicle.