What is "h-i"

The H–I or H–1 was a Japanese liquid-fuelled carrier rocket, consisting of a licence-produced American first stage and set of booster rockets, and all-Japanese upper stages. It was launched nine times between 1986 and 1992. It replaced the N-II, and was subsequently replaced by the H–2, which used the same upper stages with a Japanese first stage.

The first stage of the H–I was a licence-built version of the Thor-ELT, which was originally constructed for the US Delta 1000 rocket. The stage had already been produced under licence in Japan for the N-I and N-II rockets. The second stage was entirely Japanese, using an LE-5 engine. On launches to Geosynchronous transfer orbits, a Nissan–built UM-129A solid motor was used as a third stage. Depending on the mass of the payload, either six or nine US Castor 2 SRMs were used as booster rockets.