Japan launched its last ISS resupply mission with the HTV.
For the ISS, this week looks very busy. An American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut used a Canadian robotic arm to capture a Japanese spacecraft. JAXA launched the HTV-9 mission to resupply the ISS on 20 May 2020, 17:31:00 UTC. After about 5 days in transit, HTV-9 will rendezvous with the International Space Station. Two astronauts capture the 12-tonne spacecraft using the CSA provided robotic arm. Later this week SpaceX will launch two Astronauts in its Dragon on a Falcon 9 rocket. On May 25th, the astronauts captured it.
Japan is one of three nations with the ability to launch resupply materials to the International Space Station. Japan’s 9th launch took place on May 20th.
Japan has successfully sent the cargo to the ISS in all eight attempts since 2009 using the H-2B rocket. Kounotori, which means white stork in Japanese, transports up to food and experiment devices for astronauts.
Kounotori 9 carried about 6200 kg of cargo.
- 4300 kg in the pressurized compartment
- 1900 kg in the non-pressurized compartment.
Cargo in the pressurized compartment (Pressurized Logistics Carrier, PLC) is, in addition to the foods and crew commodities:
- Solid Combustion Experiment Module (SCEM)
- Integrated Standard Imager for Microsatellites (iSIM), a commercial technology demonstration payload by Spanish company Satlantis
- Equipment for the space media business collaboration (Space Frontier Studio KIBO)
- Confocal Space Microscopy (COSMIC)
- EXPRESS Rack 11B (ER11B)
- Tank for Water Storage System (WSS)
- High-pressure nitrogen tank for Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System (NORS)
- European Drawer Rack Mark II (EDR2)
- Lithium-Ion batteries for the ISS upgrade.
This will be the last mission for the current version of Kounotori, the cylindrical cargo transporter before it gets upgraded by 50 percent in its weight and capacity. The improved version of the HTV will be the HTV-X. The HTV-X is first scheduled for launch on February 2022. HTV-9 will be able to dock rather than birth.
Beginning in fiscal 2021, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plan to use the next-generation H-3 rocket to send the upgraded Kounotori capable of carrying more supplies.
JAXA has also agreed to provide HTV-X logistic resupply flights to the Gateway space station, as part of its Gateway contribution besides developing a habitation module with the ESA. These destinations require more delta-V, making it necessary to extend the range of the cargo transporter.
Mitsubishi Heavy said last fall that it is looking to develop the H-3 rocket capable of delivering heavy payloads into orbit. JAXA’s ability to reach these far-flung destinations depends on the H-3 rocket’s success.
