Japan on Friday postponed the launch of a cargo transfer spacecraft that delivers supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) due to adverse weather conditions.
The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced Friday that they "decided to postpone the launch of the H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 5 with the H- II Transfer Vehicle 'KOUNOTORI5' (HTV5) onboard from the Tanegashima Space Center, which was originally scheduled for August 16, 2015 (Japan Standard Time), as unfavorable weather is forecast."
The new launch date is set for Aug. 17, they said, adding that the launch date may be delayed further due to weather conditions.
Developed and built in Japan, the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) known as "KOUNOTORI (white stork)" is an unmanned cargo transfer spacecraft that delivers supplies to the ISS. The HTV will carry not only necessary daily commodities for the crew astronauts, but also experimental devices, samples, spare parts and other necessary research items for the ISS.
Currently, Japan, the United States and Russia operate cargo transfers to the ISS. "Among the supply vehicles, KOUNOTORI serves as the backbone of ISS operations with its world-leading supply capacity of approximate 6 metric tons, and is the only space liner capable of delivering large items of hardware," said JAXA.
According to the HTV5 Mission Schedule updated by JAXA on Friday, the launch window for HTV5 is Aug. 17-Sept. 30 and the launch time will be determined by the updated orbit of the ISS. The launch day and time during the launch windows shall be decided by the international coordination for ISS operations.
