Japan’s unmanned cargo ship arrives at International Space Station

An unmanned cargo ship that blasted off aboard a rocket from Japan last week arrived at the International Space Station on Monday, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The Konotori 5 cargo transporter, developed in Japan, was carrying about 5.5 tons of supplies and experimental equipment. 

It was launched aboard an H-2B rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Wednesday after its liftoff was postponed twice due to bad weather.

On Monday, the spacecraft reached the ISS, which is in orbit about 400 kilometers above Earth. Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, 45, is currently aboard the ISS.

• The mission follows the recent failures to send U.S. Dragon and Russian Progress cargo spacecraft to the ISS.

The flight of Konotori, which means stork in Japanese, was controlled by a team at JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Center in Ibaraki Prefecture.
  Kyodo
24/8/15