WASHINGTON Despite the loss of the H 2 rocket last month, the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan will go ahead with test launches of two possible replacements for the doomed rocket

NASDAs Washington D.C. office told space.com that to recover from the technical issues raised in the launch failure, Japan had canceled H 2 launch vehicle flight number 8. In its place the space agency would fly a second test vehicle in the follow-on H 2-A Standard program, tentatively planned for late 2001.

The last and eighth launch of the H 2 program had been scheduled for mid-2000. During this time the new H 2-A Standard design was to begin flight trials leading to operational, full commercial status by 2002An even more advanced design, the H 2-A Augmented vehicle, was to begin testing as well, leading to commercial sales in 2003. But the November H 2 launch failure has altered this schedule.

The decision to add a second test flight of the follow-on H 2-A design may have more impact in the long-term for Japan's fledgling commercial space program.

That test launch and the remaining schedule to fly the satellite payloads originally planned for the last H 2 would be re-arranged. That now canceled flight was to orbit two satellites -- the Data Relay Test Satellite-West (RTSW) and the Mission Development Satellite 1 (MDS 1).

NASDA told space.com that the two payloads would be split up and fly on different boosters. The MDS 1 would be moved to a second test flight of the H 2-A sometime in 2001, depending when the first test flight occurs. Officials were still hoping to conduct that flight in early 2001. RTSW is slated to fly on an H 2-A in late 2002 or early 2003.

The second test launch, in addition to providing a ride for the MDS 1 satellite, would "be an additional flight verification of the H 2-A Standard design," NASDA officials said.

These changes were approved December 8 in Tokyo by the Japanese governments Space Activities Committee. The committee governs changes to the Japanese space program development and budget schedules.

The November crash has set back the entire Japanese launch development program by at least a year.

The schedule may slip again, officials said, depending on what specific changes might need to be made to the rockets design after the investigation into the November failure. Several system and sub-system designs were common to both the H 2 and the H 2-A Standard vehicles.

Japanese officials were also attempting to retrieve the first stage of the failed November H 2 rocket from the Pacific Ocean where it crashed following launch. Recovery of the rocket stage could help speed the re-design process. The November crash has set back the entire Japanese launch development program by at least a year.

The purpose of the new H 2-A designs was to increase the performance of Japanese launchers, as well as to create a lower cost, more commercially useful space launch capability for Japan.

While the Standard version of the newer H 2-A will be able to lift a four ton payload into geostationary orbit, the same capacity as the canceled H 2, it will be cheaper to produce, as well as simpler to prepare and launch than the older rocket.

The H 2-A Standard will also inaugurate a more modern manufacturing process at the rockets Mitsubishi assembly center, simplified engine construction and an on-board monitoring system to check the performance of various rocket systems.

The H 2-A Augmented vehicles will take that commercial evolution a step further, increasing the rockets payload capacity to 7 tons.