Abstract
The third flight of the H-II rocket has successfully completed placing two satellites, the fifth Geostationary Meteorological Satellite named "HIMAWARI-5" and the retrievable Space Flyer Unite, in their orbits at the same time on March 18, 1995. This test flight was the very last event of the H-II development program which took approximately 12 years, and this concluding landmark with the first and second test flights successfully conducted in 1994 has demonstrated the intended performance, reliability, and operability of the H-II rocket. This paper briefly reviews the development program, some technical difficulties encountered. collecting measures employed and lessons learned.
