H3-30 version
H3-30 H3-30S
The only offered configuration of the H3-30 branch and the one that has flown: three LE-9 engines on the core stage, no solid boosters and the short fairing, which leaves the rocket at 57 m. Its liftoff mass is about 271 tonnes, the lowest in the family, and it places up to 4,000 kg in Sun-synchronous orbit for around ¥5 billion. It first flew on 12 June 2026.
- June 12, 2026
- First launch
- No
- Reusable
History
Flight F6
The first H3-30S lifted off from Tanegashima on 12 June 2026 with JAXA's VEP-5 evaluation payload and several rideshares: PETREL, STARS-X, BRO-22, VERTECS, HORN-L and HORN-R. The mission was designated F6 but flew seventh, after F7 and F8: defects found during a captive firing test in July 2025 delayed the configuration's debut.
The flight carried two Japanese firsts: it was the country's first orbital launch with an all-liquid-propellant rocket, with no solid boosters, and the first rocket anywhere powered solely by expander bleed cycle engines, the scheme of the LE-9 and the LE-5B-3.
The low-cost version
The 30 branch was designed as the cheap option, aimed above all at government customers: around ¥5 billion per launch, roughly half the cost of an H-IIA and a figure meant to match the Falcon 9. The final letter denotes the fairing; the short one ("S") is what is offered with three engines. The catalogue's other configurations — H3-22S, H3-22L, H3-24L and H3-24W — combine two core engines with solid boosters.