The M-V rocket, also called M-5 or Mu-5, was a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese solid-fuel rocket designed to launch scientific

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

 satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

s. It was a member of the Mu family

Mu (rocket)

The Mu, also known as M, was a series of Japanese solid-fuelled carrier rockets, which were launched from Uchinoura between 1966 and 2006...

 of rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

s. The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science

is a Japanese national research organization of astrophysics using rockets, astronomical satellites and interplanetary probes. It is a division of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency .- History :...

 (ISAS) began developing the M-V in 1990 at a cost of 15 billion yen. It has three stages and is 30.7 meters high, 2.5 meters in diameter

Diameter

In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...

, and weighs about 140 tonne

Tonne

The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...

s (310,000 pounds). It was capable of launching a satellite weighing 1.8 tonnes (2 short tons) into an orbit

Orbit

In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...

 as high as 250 km (155.3 mi).

The first M-V rocket launched the HALCA

HALCA

The HALCA , also known for its project name VSOP , or the code name MUSES-B for the second of the Mu Space Engineering Spacecraft series, is a Japanese 8 meter diameter radio telescope satellite which was used for Very Long Baseline Interferometry...

 radio astronomy

Radio astronomy

Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The initial detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was made in the 1930s, when Karl Jansky observed radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observations have identified a number of...

 satellite in 1997, and the second the Nozomi Mars explorer in July 1998. The third rocket attempted to launch the Astro-E

ASTRO-E

Suzaku is a Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite launched on 10 July 2005 aboard the M-V-6 rocket. The project was renamed Suzaku after its successful launch after the mythical Vermilion bird of the South....

 X-ray

X-ray

X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...

 satellite on February 10, 2000 but failed.

ISAS recovered from this setback and launched Hayabusa

Hayabusa

was an unmanned spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis....

 to 25143 Itokawa

25143 Itokawa

25143 Itokawa is an Apollo and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was the first asteroid to be the target of a sample return mission, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa.-Discovery and naming:...

 in 2003.

The following M-V launch was the scientific Astro-E2

ASTRO-E

Suzaku is a Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite launched on 10 July 2005 aboard the M-V-6 rocket. The project was renamed Suzaku after its successful launch after the mythical Vermilion bird of the South....

 satellite, a replacement for Astro-E, which took place on July 10, 2005.

The final launch was that of the Hinode

Hinode

Hinode , formerly Solar-B, is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Solar mission with United States and United Kingdom collaboration. It is the follow-up to the Yohkoh mission and it was launched on the final flight of the M-V-7 rocket from Uchinoura Space Center, Japan on 22 September 2006 at...

 (SOLAR-B) spacecraft, along with the SSSat microsat

Miniaturized satellite

Miniaturized satellites or small satellites are artificial satellites of unusually low weights and small sizes, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as small satellites, different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass .One reason for miniaturizing...

 and a nanosatellite, HIT-SAT, on 22 September 2006.

National security considerations

Solid fuel rockets are the design of choice for military applications as they can remain in storage for long periods, and then reliably launch at short notice.

Lawmakers made national security arguments for keeping Japan's solid-fuel rocket technology alive after ISAS was merged into the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The , or JAXA, is Japan's national aerospace agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on October 1, 2003, as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the...

, which also has the H-IIA

H-IIA

H-IIA is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency . The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch an interplanetary...

 liquid-fuelled rocket, in 2003. The ISAS director of external affairs, Yasunori Matogawa, said, "It seems the hard-line national security proponents in parliament are increasing their influence, and they aren't getting much criticism…I think we’re moving into a very dangerous period. When you consider the current environment and the threat from North Korea

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction

North Korea has declared that it has nuclear weapons and is believed by many to have nuclear weapons. The CIA assesses that North Korea also has a substantial arsenal of chemical weapons...

, it’s scary."

Toshiyuki Shikata, a government adviser and former lieutenant general, indicated that part of the rationale for the fifth M-V Hayabusa

Hayabusa

was an unmanned spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis....

 mission was that the reentry and landing of its return capsule demonstrated "that Japan's ballistic missile capability is credible."

The M-V design could be weaponised quickly
although this would be politically difficult.

M-V flights

Date (UTC)	Flight	Payload	Result
February 12, 1997 04:50:00	M-V-1	Muses B (HALCA HALCA The HALCA , also known for its project name VSOP , or the code name MUSES-B for the second of the Mu Space Engineering Spacecraft series, is a Japanese 8 meter diameter radio telescope satellite which was used for Very Long Baseline Interferometry... )	Success
July 3, 1998 18:12:00	M-V-3	Planet B (Nozomi)	Success
February 10, 2000 01:30:00	M-V-4	ASTRO-E ASTRO-E Suzaku is a Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite launched on 10 July 2005 aboard the M-V-6 rocket. The project was renamed Suzaku after its successful launch after the mythical Vermilion bird of the South....	Failure
May 9, 2003 04:29:25	M-V-5	Muses C (Hayabusa Hayabusa was an unmanned spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis.... )	Success
July 10, 2005 03:30:00	M-V-6	ASTRO-E2 ASTRO-E Suzaku is a Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite launched on 10 July 2005 aboard the M-V-6 rocket. The project was renamed Suzaku after its successful launch after the mythical Vermilion bird of the South....  (Suzaku)	Success
February 21, 2006 21:28:00	M-V-8	ASTRO-F ASTRO-F Akari is an infrared astronomy satellite developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, in cooperation with institutes of Europe and Korea. It was launched on 21 February 2006 at 21:28 UTC by M-V rocket into Earth sun-synchronous orbit...  (Akari) CUTE-1.7 CUTE-1.7 CUTE-1.7 + APD or CO-56 is an amateur radio nanosatellite in the form of a double CubeSat. The satellite uses commercial off-the-shelf components extensively, in particular, using the Hitachi NPD-20JWL PDA as a control computer, and using a USB hub for sensor communications... -APD SSP (solar sail Solar sail Solar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds....  sub payload)	Success SSP failed to open completely
September 22, 2006 21:36	M-V-7	Solar-B (Hinode) HIT-SAT SSSAT (solar sail Solar sail Solar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds.... )	Success SSSat failed after launch

Following program

A follow on to the M-V is being developed, called the Epsilon Rocket (formerly Advanced Solid Rocket), with a lower 1.2 tonne LEO payload capability. The development aim is to reduce costs, primarily by using the H-IIA

H-IIA

H-IIA is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency . The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch an interplanetary...

 solid rocket booster as the first stage and through shorter launch preparation time.

Comparable solid fuel rockets

• Athena II
  Athena II
  The Athena II is an American small expendable launch system which was used for three launches between 1998 and 1999, and which is scheduled to return to service in 2012. It is a member of the Athena family of rockets, along with the smaller Athena I...
  
  
• Epsilon
• Minotaur IV
  Minotaur IV
  Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the Peacekeeper missile. It is operated by Orbital Sciences Corporation, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010, carrying the HTV-2a Hypersonic Test Vehicle...
  
  

• Taurus
• Vega

External links

• M-V page in ISAS site of JAXA
• Advanced Solid Rocket at JAXA
• M-V, Encyclopedia Astronautica
  Encyclopedia Astronautica
  The Encyclopedia Astronautica is a reference web site on space travel. A comprehensive catalog of vehicles, technology, astronauts, and flights, it includes information from most countries that have had an active rocket research program, from Robert Goddard to the NASA Space shuttle to the Soviet...