A cargo ship from Japan pulled alongside the International Space Station on Wednesday, maneuvering close enough for the lab’s robotic arm to reach out and grab it as the vehicles soared 260 miles over the South Atlantic Ocean.
“HTV capture complete,” Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui radioed from the ISS. “I just want to say congratulations to all teams and people involved in this mission. Also, thank you very much for your hard work and support for the first HTV-X mission.”
The HTV-X spacecraft is an upgraded cargo freighter replacing Japan’s H-II Transfer Vehicle, which successfully resupplied the space station nine times between 2009 and 2020. At the conclusion of the HTV program, Japan’s space agency preferred to focus its resources on designing a new cargo ship with more capability at a lower cost. That’s what HTV-X is supposed to be, and Wednesday’s high-flying rendezvous marked the new ship’s first delivery to the ISS.
“This is a historic event in the Japanese space program,” Yui said. “This spacecraft is so beautiful and shiny, and this is representing our bright future. Thank you again for delivering these important supplies and experiments. I can’t wait to open this golden treasure box.”
A gorgeous video downlinked from orbit showed Japan’s newest spacecraft approaching from underneath the ISS. The ship’s bright golden thermal insulation stood out against the dark blue and green landscape of the planet far below, giving it the appearance of a supersized insect flying in formation with the station.
The International Space Station’s robotic arm prepares to reach out and grapple the HTV-X spacecraft on Wednesday. Credit: NASA/JAXA
Resupply missions to the space station have become fairly commonplace, but it’s no easy feat to deliver equipment to an outpost speeding around the planet at nearly 5 miles per second. As the ISS nears the end of its life—decommissioning is set to begin in 2030—one of the program’s enduring legacies has been fostering the development of a spectrum of crew and cargo vehicles to service it.
SpaceX developed the Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon capsules to resupply the ISS. Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle, which flew five times to the space station, was the basis for the European-built service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft, now a core element of the Artemis lunar program.
NASA is applying technology from Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo freighter to build parts of the Gateway space station to be constructed in orbit around the Moon. The European Space Agency hopes to use the ISS as a destination for its own new commercial supply ships in a bid to emulate what NASA did in the United States with SpaceX and Northrop Grumman.