Japan has successfully launched its new space freighter from the Tanegashima base in the south of the country.
The 16.5-tonne unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is on a mission to re-supply the space station.
Its role is vitally important to the station project, which is set to lose the servicing capability of the US shuttle fleet next year.
The freighter left Earth atop an H-IIB rocket at 0201 local time on Friday (1701 GMT, Thursday).
Separation from the rocket's upper-stage was confirmed some 15 minutes later.
More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8249357.stm
Japan's first unmanned space freighter was launched today, stocked with cargo and equipment for the International Space Station.
The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan at 1:01 pm EDT (17:03 GMT) atop an H-2B rocket, which was also making a maiden flight. The spacecraft's success will be vitally important to the ISS as another way to deliver crucial equipment to the orbiting station after NASA's space shuttle fleet is retired next year.
More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/10/japan_htv_launch/
Japan's first unmanned cargo ship is closing in on the International Space Station, where six astronauts are eagerly awaiting its arrival.
The cargo ship, called the H-2 Transfer Vehicle 1 (HTV-1), is due to arrive at the space station today at 3:50 p.m. EDT (1950 GMT) after a week-long shakedown cruise. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the spacecraft last week on a maiden voyage to deliver tons of supplies for the station's six-person crew.
"It's very exciting," JAXA spokesperson Naoko Matsuo told SPACE.com. "[Today's] maneuver is a very critical mission, so we hope we can show our techniques well."
More: http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090917-htv-grapple-preview.html (http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090917-htv-grapple-preview.html)