S-520

S-520-1

S-520 is the name of a single-stage Japanese sounding rocket . The S-520 manufactured by Nissan has a peak height of 430 km, a takeoff mass of 2200 kg, a diameter of 0.52 m and a length of 9.10 m. From 1980 to 2015 there were 27 launches from the Uchinoura Space Center , three more from Andøya Rakettskytefelt in Norway and one from SvalRak on Spitsbergen.

Equipped with a second stage, the missile was designated as SS-520 . In this variant a summit height of 1108 km could be reached.

In a further variant, the SS-520 receives a third stage, so that the payload of 4 kg can reach earth orbit. The first start took place on January 14, 2017, but failed because the second stage did not ignite. With the successful launch on February 3, 2018, the SS-520 became the smallest launcher that ever put a payload into orbit.

Start list SS-520

Serial no.	Date ( UTC )	Serial no.	stages	Launch site	payload	Type of payload	Payload in kg (gross ¹ )	Height ² / orbit ³	Remarks
1	February 5, 1998 8:30 am	SS-520-1	2	Uchinoura				750 km	success
2	December 4, 2000 9:16 am	SS-520-2	2	SvalRak				1108 km	success
3	January 14, 2017 11:33 PM	SS-520-4	3	Uchinoura	Japan TRICOM-1	Technology testing satellite	3 kg		Failure
4th	February 3, 2018 5:03 am	SS-520-5	3	Uchinoura	Japan TRICOM-1R	Technology testing satellite	3 kg		Success First orbital launch

¹Gross weight, d. H. Mass of the payload including adapter, housing, etc.

² Apogee in suborbital flights

³Railway on which the payload from the upper level is to be released. Not necessarily the target orbit of the payload.

Individual evidence

↑ S-520 in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on January 11, 2017 (English).
↑ SS-520 in Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed January 11, 2017.
↑ William Graham: Japan's SS-520 fails during TRICOM-1 launch to demo small rocket capability. nasaspaceflight.com, January 14, 2017, accessed January 15, 2017 .
^ Spaceflight 101: Japan's SS-520 CubeSat Launch Vehicle Achieves Success on Second Try. February 3, 2018, archived from the original on February 23, 2019 ; accessed on February 3, 2018 .

Web links

S-520 in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
Gunter's Space Page: S-520 family (English)

[1] S-520 in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on January 11, 2017 (English).

[2] SS-520 in Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed January 11, 2017.

[3] William Graham: Japan's SS-520 fails during TRICOM-1 launch to demo small rocket capability. nasaspaceflight.com, January 14, 2017, accessed January 15, 2017 .

[4] Spaceflight 101: Japan's SS-520 CubeSat Launch Vehicle Achieves Success on Second Try. February 3, 2018, archived from the original on February 23, 2019 ; accessed on February 3, 2018 .