Japan today launches an unmanned cargo ship to the space station. Watch live

An unmanned Japanese refueling ship will be docking in the International Space Station today (24 September) after a two-week delay due to the fire of a launch pad and you will be able to watch the takeoff live online.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch the unmanned spacecraft HTV-8 (also known as Kounotori8) in the direction of the space station of the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan, over the north-east of Japan. an H-IIB rocket. The takeoff is scheduled at 12:05. HAE (1605 GMT). It will be 1:05 Wednesday on the launch site. You can watch the live launch here via NASA TV at 11:30 am EDT (3:30 pm GMT). JAXA offers its own webcast from 11:47 am EDT (3:47 pm GMT).

HTV-8 carries more than 4 tons of supplies to the International Space Station for the crew of six people at the outpost. The JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which built the H-IIB rocket, attempted to launch the HTV-8 mission on September 10, but a fire on the launch pad just below the rocket forced them to cancel the launch. .

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MHI representatives said the fire, a first for the company and the JAXA, was due to an unexpected concentration of flammable oxygen vapors at the platform level. "We took corrective action and confirmed the normal operation of the rocket and facilities," they said in a statement.

"The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries launch supplier has identified the cause of the fire and set the new launch date after the implementation of corrective measures," NASA officials said.

Baptized Kounotori, which means white stork in Japanese, the machine will deliver six new lithium-ion batteries and the corresponding adapter plates, which will replace the nickel-hydrogen aged batteries for two channels. power supply located on the far-port farm segment, "NASA officials said in a statement statement. "The batteries will be installed through a series of robots and exits in the space by the crew members of the station later this year."

HTV-8 is also piloting a small experimental satellite optical communications system called SOLIS (designed to enable 100 Mbit / s downlink speeds from the space station). The Hourglass test is used to test the effects of gravity on powders. and granular materials as well as upgrading the station. Cell experimentation in cell biology, added NASA officials.

The Japanese HTV freighters are bright gold cylindrical spacecraft designed for unique journeys to the International Space Station. They launch on the JAXA H-IIB rockets built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, hence their name: H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV.
Pictures: The Japanese robotic fleet of space cargo ships

Each HTV spacecraft includes an internal compartment to which astronauts can access from inside the station and an external payload area for outdoor equipment such as new solar panel batteries. At the end of their missions, HTV vehicles are full of waste and released to intentionally burn themselves in the Earth 's atmosphere.

It is currently expected that HTV-8 will arrive at the International Space Station early Saturday, September 28, where it will be captured by astronauts using the robotic arm of the laboratory in orbit. The spacecraft will then be connected to a docking port available on the station's Harmony module.

NASA will webcast the arrival of HTV-8 at the space station Saturday from 5:45 am EDT (09:45 GMT). The capture of a robotic arm is scheduled for 7:15 am EDT (11:15 GMT). The NASA webcast will resume Saturday at 9:30 am (EDT) (1:30 pm GMT) to cover the HTV-8 attachment to the Harmony module.

Send an email to Tariq Malik at [email protected] or follow him @tariqjmalik. follow us @Spacedotcom and Facebook