posted 08-10-2016 08:43 AM               

Launch postponement of "Kounotori-6" (HTV-6)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) decided to postpone the launch of the H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 6 with the H-II Transfer Vehicle "Kounotori-6" (HTV-6) on board from the Tanegashima Space Center, which was scheduled for Oct. 1, 2016 (Japan Standard Time).

The new launch date will be announced as soon as it is determined.

A slight leak was detected from piping of the HTV-6 during an air tightness test. The test is part of HTV-6 launch preparations at the launch site. JAXA will disband the HTV-6 module and take necessary measures.

posted 10-07-2016 08:23 AM               

Launch of the H-II Transfer Vehicle 'Kounotori-6'

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and JAXA postponed the launch of the H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 6 with "Kounotori-6" (HTV-6, a cargo transporter to the International Space Station) on board, which was previously scheduled for Oct. 1, 2016 (Japan Standard Time). The updated launch schedule is as follows:

• Scheduled date of the launch: Dec. 9 (Friday), 2016 (JST)
  
• Launch time: around 10:26 p.m. (JST)
  
• Launch windows: Dec 10 (Sat.) through Dec 31 ( Sat.)
  
• Launch Site: Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Center

Time will be determined by the updated orbit of the International Space Station. The launch day and time during the launch windows shall be decided by the international coordination for ISS operations.

posted 10-24-2016 09:35 AM               

Kounotori-6 (HTV-6) Makes Debut to Media

On October 19, members of the media were invited to view Kounotori-6 (HTV-6), H-II transfer vehicle to the Space Station. The event was held at Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) and attracted many as it showed actual HTV-6 before launch.

At the premiere, Hirohiko Uematsu, Director of HTV Technology Center, Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate, JAXA explained the general facts and the payloads of HTV-6, and addressed the records of past HTV operations, improvements, and the progress of launch preparation.

Koichi Inoue, Team Leader of KITE, Research and Development Directorate, JAXA spoke about KITE, Kounotori Integrated Tether Experiment. JAXA is making an attempt of on-orbit demonstration of electrodynamic tether (EDT) on HTV. KITE is expected to develop the system which through the use of EDT eliminates space debris on low-earth orbits. The tether length is approximately 700 m, on an unprecedented scale. Space debris has increasingly become a serious issue.

HTV-6 will shortly undergo its final preparation procedure, where loading of propellant, encapsulation in its payload fairing, and docking to HTV-6 will ensue. The launch is scheduled at around 10:26 p.m. on December 9 (Japan Standard Time; 8:26 a.m. EST) (subject to change by the international coordination for ISS operations) at TNSC.

posted 12-09-2016 09:29 AM               

HTV-6 launches to space station

Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle-6 (HTV-6) launched for the International Space Station on Friday (Dec. 9), with more than 4.5 tons of supplies for the orbiting outpost's six-person crew.

The "Kounotori" ("white stork") cargo spacecraft lifted off at 7:26 a.m. CST (1326 GMT; 10:26 p.m. Japan time) on an H-IIB rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.

A little more than 15 minutes later, the HTV-6 freighter separated from the booster and began its four-day rendezvous with the space station.

Aboard the HTV-6, in addition to crew supplies, water and experiment hardware, are six lithium-ion batteries and adapter plates to replace the nickel-hydrogen batteries currently used to store electrical energy generated by the space station solar arrays. The new batteries will be installed during a series of robotic arm operations and spacewalks between late December and mid-January.

On Tuesday (Dec. 13), the HTV-6 spacecraft will approach the station from below and slowly inch its way toward the complex. Expedition 50 commander Shane Kimbrough and flight engineer Thomas Pesquet will operate the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm from the cupola to reach out and grapple the 12-ton spacecraft. Ground controllers will then install it on the Earth-facing side of the Harmony module, where it will spend more than five weeks.

Flight engineer Peggy Whitson will monitor HTV-6 systems during the rendezvous and grapple.

posted 12-13-2016 08:38 AM               

HTV-6 berthed to space station

Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle-6 (HTV-6) arrived on Tuesday (Dec. 13) at the International Space Station.

Using the robotic arm Canadarm2, Expedition 50 commander Shane Kimbrough and flight engineer captured the Kounotori 6 cargo craft as the outpost was flying 250 miles (400 km) over southern Chile.

Ground controllers then installed the HTV to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module at 7:57 a.m. CST (1357 GMT).

posted 02-02-2017 07:58 AM               

HTV-6 departs space station

Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Shane Kimbrough of NASA took control of the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) H-II Transport Vehicle-6 (HTV-6) at 9:46 a.m. CST (1546 GMT) on Jan. 27.

Earlier, ground controllers used the robotic arm to unberth the cargo craft from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module.

After its release, HTV-6 was moved to a safe distance below and in front of the station for about a week's worth of data gathering with a JAXA experiment designed to measure electromagnetic forces using a tether in low-Earth orbit. JAXA is scheduled to deorbit the craft on Feb. 5.