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General Discussion => Q&A Section => Topic started by: Mondagun on 10/20/2023 05:38 pm

Title: User manual for Japanese H3 launch vehicle
Post by: Mondagun on 10/20/2023 05:38 pm

Did Mitsubishi or JAXA already release a user manual for the H3 launch vehicle? My internet search has thus far not turned up any results.

Title: Re: User manual for Japanese H3 launch vehicle
Post by: russianhalo117 on 10/20/2023 10:02 pm

Quote from: Mondagun on 10/20/2023 05:38 pm

Did Mitsubishi or JAXA already release a user manual for the H3 launch vehicle? My internet search has thus far not turned up any results.

As far as I know it will be released after the test programme concludes.

Title: Re: User manual for Japanese H3 launch vehicle
Post by: Mondagun on 10/21/2023 07:16 pm

Quote from: russianhalo117 on 10/20/2023 10:02 pm

Quote from: Mondagun on 10/20/2023 05:38 pm

Did Mitsubishi or JAXA already release a user manual for the H3 launch vehicle? My internet search has thus far not turned up any results.

As far as I know it will be released after the test programme concludes.

Thanks for the reply. This is a different approach than most launch providers who release a manual far in advance of operational service. Starship isn't operational yet, but SpaceX released a manual already in March 2020. Ariane 6 isn't operational yet either (it hasn't even flown a test flight yet), but Arianespace nevertheless released a manual all the way back in May 2016.

Perhaps the Japanese are simply more cautious in nature. I am reminded of JAXA's tradition of giving spacecraft a rather generic designation during development, and then assigning a poetic Japanese name to the spacecraft only after it has succesfully been launched.