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IPFS News Link • Space Travel and Exploration

JAPAN PREPARES TO LAUNCH KOUNOTORI-5 TO SPACE STATION

• http://www.spaceflightinsider.com, BRITT RAWCLIFFE

The flight, originally scheduled for Aug. 17 but postponed due to unfavorable weather, is currently set to take place on Aug. 19, 2015, and it will deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch time is scheduled for 7:50 a.m. EDT (20:50 Japan Standard Time, JST).

The time of liftoff will likely change as the orbit of the ISS is updated closer to the flight time. Kounotori-5 (HTV-5) will ride atop the H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 5, launching from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex on Tanegashima Island in Japan.

This launch is a joint operation between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to provide supplies, experiments, and equipment to the Expedition 44 crew members on board the ISS.

As the vehicle's designation implies, HTV-5 is the fifth in a series of spacecraft that made its debut during the HTV-1 test flight in September 2009. To date, all of the prior flights to the space station have been successful.


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