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JapanThe space agency on Sunday successfully launched its new flagship H3 rocket carrying an unmanned cargo spacecraft for its first mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the HTV-X1 spacecraft successfully lifted off atop the No. 7 H3 rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
The spacecraft was separated and placed in the planned orbit, JAXA said. If everything goes well, it is expected to reach the ISS within a few days to deliver supplies. Japani Astronaut Kimiya Yui, who is currently aboard the ISS, is set to grab hold of the spacecraft with a robotic arm early Thursday.
HTV-X is the successor to JAXA’s unmanned H-II transfer vehicle, known as Kounotori or Stork in Japanese, which flew nine missions to the ISS between 2009 and 2020.
The new cargo can carry larger payloads and supply power during flight, enabling the transport of cells and other laboratory samples that require storage in low temperatures.
HTV-X is designed to remain attached to the ISS for six months to deliver supplies and retrieve waste from the ISS, then conduct technical missions while making an orbital flight after leaving the station, this time for three months.
The H3 rocket replaces Japan’s long-beloved mainstay H-2A rocket, which made its final flight in June, as a new flagship model designed to be more cost competitive in the global space market.
Japan views a stable, commercially competitive space transportation capability as key to its space program and national security.
H3 has made six consecutive successful flights so far after a failed first attempt in 2023, when the rocket had to be destroyed along with its payload.