Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) is a Japanese multinational engineering and manufacturing company whose origins trace to 1884, when Yataro Iwasaki, founder of the Mitsubishi group, took over the Nagasaki Shipyard. The present corporation was incorporated in 1950 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and a major industrial partner in Japan's national space program.

In the launch sector, MHI serves as the industrial prime contractor for Japan's flagship rockets, developed and operated in collaboration with the national space agency JAXA. It built and operated the H-IIA and H-IIB launch vehicles, and in 2014 JAXA selected MHI as prime contractor for the next-generation H3 rocket, with responsibility for airframe development and commercial launch transportation services.

As of 2026, MHI remains an active launch provider centered on the H3 rocket, which became operational after its successful Test Flight 2 in February 2024. The long-serving H-IIA was retired in June 2025 after 50 flights, with H3 taking over as Japan's mainstay launcher for government and commercial missions.