Japan to Launch Cargo Freighter to ISS Wednesday Written 20 May 2020
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Japan’s HTV-8 cargo craft sits atop the HII-B rocket at the Tanegashima Space Center in September of 2019. | JAXA–©
Spaceflight Now reports that a Japanese HTV “cargo freighter is ready for launch Wednesday with the last set of six lithium-ion batteries to upgrade the International Space Station’s solar power truss.” The launch is scheduled for 1731 GMT (1:31 p.m. EDT) from Tanegashima Space Center. The HTV will launch aboard a H-2B rocket, and “mark the retirement of the H-2B rocket, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.” Deployment “of the...HTV cargo craft is planned approximately 15 minutes after liftoff.” An “on-time launch Wednesday would put the HTV on course to arrive at the International Space Station on Monday, May 25.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)