The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will send an unmanned cargo transporter to the International Space Station in September.
The HTV8, also called Kounotori8, meaning white stork in Japanese, will deliver over 5 tons of supplies to the astronauts on the ISS, including food and water, as well as batteries and devices needed for experiments, JAXA said Monday.
The agency said the cargo vessel will be carried into space by an H-IIB rocket to be launched Sept. 11 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
The cylindrical cargo transporter, measuring about 10 meters long and 4.4 meters in diameter, will also carry an optical communications system useful for exploring the moon and Mars. It will be installed in Kibo, Japan's laboratory module on the ISS.
