Japanese HTV-3 Capsule Ready for Launch Tomorrow

Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) say that the third H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-3) is currently ready for take-off at 11:06 am Japan time (0206 GMT), on Saturday, July 21.

The vehicle, which weighs 16.5 tons on its own, will carry 4 tons of food, water, fuel and scientific experiments for members of the Expedition 32 crew aboard the International Space Station.

After it launches from the Tanegashima Space Center, in southern Japan, the spacecraft will spend around 6 days chasing the space lab in low-Earth orbit. HTV-3 will dock on the Earth-facing port of the American Harmony module at around 1300 GMT, on July 27, Space reports.

Since JAXA did not outfit the HTV spacecraft series with automatic rendezvous mechanisms, astronauts aboard the station will have to “fish” the capsule from the space, using the Canadarm-2 robotic arm.