TOKYO - Japan's space agency successfully launched Friday a new unmanned rocket carrying supplies for the International Space Station.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the H-2B rocket -- an upgrade of the country's H-2A -- took off early Friday from the space centre on Tanegashima, a remote island in southern Japan. Its payload, the HTV transportation vehicle, successfully separated from the rocket about 15 minutes after liftoff, according to the agency, known as JAXA.
The transport vehicle is taking 4.5 tons of supplies, including freeze-dried space food, bread, soap and other equipment, to Japan's Kibo laboratory module on the International Space Station, which is at the altitude of 250 miles (400 kilometres) above Earth.
Japan is scheduled to launch six more HTVs -- one every year through 2015 -- for the multinational space project.
The transport vehicle, which is mounted atop the rocket, is capable of carrying a load of up to 6 tons, or as big as a bus, the agency said. It is travelling slowly toward the space station and is expected dock next Friday, the agency said.
The two-stage H-2B rocket, co-developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., is the largest in Japan and has two engines and four boosters, compared with a single-engine, two-booster H-2A.
JAXA said it wants to use the new rocket to send supplies and equipment for astronauts in the space station, while boosting its capability to launch multiple payloads to adapt to client needs and cut costs to make Japan's space industry more lucrative.
