N-II

N-2

Mission Profile

The N-II (N-2) was a three-stage Japanese launch vehicle in the Delta family, an improved variant of the N-I with increased payload capacity using upgraded American-licensed Thor-Delta technology. Standing 35.4 m tall with a 2.4 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 135.2 tonnes, it generated 1,563 kN of liftoff thrust and could deliver 2,000 kg to low Earth orbit. First flying in February 1981, the N-II launched Japanese communications and broadcasting satellites and was the last Japanese rocket based primarily on American technology before the transition to the indigenously developed H-I.