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Yomiuri Shimbun TANEGASHIMA, Kagoshima – An H-2B rocket carrying an unmanned spacecraft Kounotori took off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 02:52 on Sunday.
About 15 minutes after launch, the Kounotori 7 is separated from the No. 7 H-2B launcher and entered orbit, said the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Sunday's launch marked the seventh consecutive successful takeoff of an H-2B rocket. The Kounotori 7 is expected to dock at the International Space Station on Thursday night.
In addition to daily necessities such as food and clothing, the Kounotori is equipped with a small return capsule weighing about 180 kilograms, which will be used to bring the samples back to Earth. It is also equipped with lithium-ion batteries that can be used as a source of energy for the ISS and three CubeSats to release from the ISS.
The cargo carried by the Kounotori weighs about 6.2 tons, the heaviest load ever handled by such a spacecraft.
The launch was originally scheduled for September 11 but was postponed four times due to bad weather and an anomaly in a valve that adjusts the pressure in the liquid oxygen tank of the rocket.Speech
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