Japan successfully launched its new unmanned cargo spacecraft on Sunday aboard an H3 launch vehicle from a space center on a southwestern island, carrying supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the HTV-X1 spacecraft lifted off atop the No. 7 H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
JAXA confirmed that the spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket and entered its planned orbit. If all goes as scheduled, it is expected to arrive at the ISS within a few days to deliver supplies. Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, currently aboard the ISS, is expected to capture the craft with a robotic arm early Thursday.
The HTV-X spacecraft has a maximum payload capacity of six tons — 1.5 times greater than its predecessor, the Kounotori — which delivered supplies to the ISS nine times between 2009 and 2020, according to JAXA.