HTV-6 – Spaceflight Now

Japanese cargo ship ends mission after space debris experiment flounders

February 6, 2017 Stephen Clark

Japan’s HTV supply ship fell to Earth on Sunday more than a week after leaving the International Space Station, burning up in the atmosphere after officials gave up on an experiment looking into ways to remove space junk from orbit.

Japanese cargo craft departs space station

January 27, 2017 Stephen Clark

Japan’s sixth HTV supply ship departed the International Space Station on Friday and headed for a destructive re-entry over the South Pacific with trash and disused batteries from the research lab, but engineers will first use the spacecraft for a pioneering experiment to investigate a new way to remove space junk from orbit.

Spacewalkers continue station battery refresh with EVA

January 6, 2017 William Harwood

Two spacewalking astronauts working outside the International Space Station Friday completed work to replace aging batteries in one of the lab’s eight main solar power circuits. A second spacewalk next week, along with additional work with the station’s robot arm, will upgrade a second power channel.

Japanese HTV makes battery delivery to International Space Station

December 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

Four days after a picture-perfect blastoff from southern Japan, a cargo-carrying supply freighter arrived at the International Space Station on Tuesday with 4.5 tons of equipment, food, clothing and experiments.

Japan’s HTV supply ship blasts off for space station

December 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Japanese H-2B rocket launched toward the International Space Station on Friday with a fresh set of high-power batteries, critical parts for the research lab’s carbon dioxide scrubber, and several tons of food, water and provisions.

Timeline of the H-2B rocket’s launch of the Kounotori 6 supply ship

December 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japan’s Kounotori 6 cargo carrier will get a 15-minute boost from a powerful H-2B rocket to send the supply ship and its 4.5 tons of provisions and experiments on a four-day pursuit of the International Space Station.

Flight history of Japan’s HTV resupply spacecraft

December 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japan’s H-2 Transfer Vehicle has accomplished five flights to the International Space Station, delivering tons of food, clothing and crew provisions, instruments to look at ozone chemistry and investigate dark matter, and critical hardware to keep the research complex operating.

Live coverage: Japanese HTV resupply freighter captured by station robotic arm

December 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

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.

Photos: H-2B rocket emerges for rollout to launch pad at daybreak

December 8, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Japanese resupply freighter and its H-2B rocket booster rolled out of the vehicle assembly building at the Tanegashima Space Center just before sunrise Friday for the half-hour trip to the launch pad.

Japanese cargo carrier set for launch Friday

December 8, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japan’s sixth HTV supply ship is slated to depart a picturesque spaceport on Tanegashima Island on Friday to start a four-day pursuit of the International Space Station with a cache of experiments, supplies and six lithium-ion batteries to begin overhauling the orbiting lab’s vast electrical system.