TANEGASHIMA, Kagoshima Pref. (Kyodo) Japan successfully launched its new H-IIB rocket early Friday carrying its first unmanned transport vehicle used to supply the International Space Station.
The transport vehicle, HTV, separated from the H-IIB No. 1 rocket about 15 minutes after the 2:01 a.m. liftoff from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture and successfully achieved orbit, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.
With its 1.2 × 1.2 meter opening, the HTV, which measures 10 meters long and 4.4 meters in diameter, can carry more than the transport vehicles used by other countries.
Under an agreement among countries participating in the ISS project, Japan will launch seven domestically made HTV single-use vehicles through 2015, one each year.
The HTV is expected to play a crucial role in transporting supplies to the space station along with Russian and European supply vehicles after the U.S. space shuttles are decommissioned in 2011.
In addition to the SMILES stratospheric observation equipment for Japan's Kibo laboratory module on the ISS, the approximately 4.5-ton payload of the current mission includes freeze-dried food, bread, clothes and shampoo.
