A Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship carrying more than 7,200 pounds of provisions and experiments approached the International Space Station two days after its launch from Virginia, moving close enough for capture by the station’s robotic arm at 5:28 a.m. EST (1028 GMT) Monday.

A Japanese H-2A rocket launched from Tanegashima Island on Wednesday with the Himawari 9 weather observatory bound for a perch more than 22,000 miles above Earth to improve forecasting in the Asia-Pacific. Liftoff of the 17-story rocket from southern Japan occurred at 0620 GMT (2:20 a.m. EDT) Wednesday.

A veteran Russian cosmonaut and two spaceflight rookies rocketed into orbit from a Kazakh launch base Wednesday on the first flight of a new-generation Soyuz capsule, kicking off a two-day pursuit of the International Space Station.