Video: Time lapse of ATV’s final departure from ISS

Japan’s sixth automated logistics vehicle packed with 4.5 tons of supplies approached the International Space Station for a laser-guided rendezvous, culminating with grapple of the HTV cargo craft by the station’s robotic arm at 1037 GMT (5:37 a.m. EST) Tuesday.

SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket is being readied for liftoff Aug. 14 on a space station resupply run. The two-stage rocket completed a hold-down engine firing Thursday at launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Engineers believe super-hot gas from burning solid propellant impinged on the structure of the second stage on a European Vega launcher during a failed flight in July, causing the vehicle to break apart minutes after liftoff from French Guiana with a reconnaissance satellite for the United Arab Emirates, the CEO of Italian rocket-maker Avio said Monday.