Update (19 January 2010): Launch postponed due to predicted weather conditions. The launch will now be no earlier than 22 January 2011.
Original post: Launch of the second Japanese HTV automated space freighter has been set for this coming Thursday (20 January 2011). The launch will be webcast live from the Tanegashima Space Center. The launch is scheduled to occur at 4.29pm AEST (add one hour if your Australian East Coast State or Territory follows Summer Time).
The HTV has been developed as a robotic space freighter. This allows the Japanese Space Agency JAXA to send up a range of supplies to the International Space Station without the cost of a manned spacecraft. A mission press release kit for this current mission can be downloaded here (8.9 M Acrobat PDF format). The first HTV re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere (deliberately) at the end of its mission on 2 November 2009.
As an aside, the European Space Agency’s own robotic space freighter – the ATV – will be launched on 16 February 2011 (AEST Time) – to take supplies to the International Space Station. More information here.
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