H-IIA F6 failed shortly after liftoff from Tanegashima when one of its two solid rocket boosters failed to separate; range safety destroyed the vehicle at T+13:43, losing the pair of classified IGS optical/radar reconnaissance satellites it carried and grounding Japan's H-IIA program pending an investigation.
- Outcome
- Failure
- Orbit
- SSO
- Sun-synchronous orbit
- Payload to orbit
- Did not reach orbit
- Flight
- 4th
- of 7 H-IIA 2024 flights
- Date and time
- 29 November 2003, 04:33 UTC
- Rocket
- H-IIA 2024
- Builder
- MHI
- Launch site
- Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
- Payload
- Government/Top Secret
- Launches in 2003
- 55th of 63