SS-520 & NL-520

JAXA * Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries


 

The Japanese Ministry of education and Science (MEXT) has published a number of documents on the SS-520-4 Nanosat Launcher. Apparently the fourth SS-520 sounding rocket will be fitted with an additional 3rd stage to put a 4 kg CubeSat (TRICOM-1) into orbit of 180 km x 1500 km x 31�.

The launch is announced for 2017, January 10. The launch had been postponed due to technical problems to the 15th of January but ended then with a failure.
This rocket is 9.65 m high, has a diameter of 0.52 m and weighs 2.6 tonnes.

Motor 1: Prop mass 1587 kg; burntime 31.7 sec; thrust 143 kN
Motor 2: Prop. mass 325 kg; burntime 24.4 sec
Motor 3: Prop. mass 78 kg; burntime 25.6 sec
                                                                                                                                                         

By adding a booster stage that has already been successfully tested in 2010, the payload capacity can be significantly increased. This vehicle is called NL-520.