Overview
- JAXA confirmed HTV-X1 was captured by Canadarm2 and later berthed to the station, with final attachment at 20:10 JST on October 30.
- Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui performed the grapple using the station’s robotic arm at 11:58 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, following a roughly three-and-a-half-day transit.
- HTV-X launched on an H3 rocket from Tanegashima, marking a new pairing of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ cargo ship and launcher for Japan’s ISS resupply.
- The spacecraft introduces deployable solar arrays and upgraded avionics and propulsion, and its pressurized module can carry about 25% more cargo than HTV.
- The mission delivered fresh food, water, Kibo module experiment materials, and a carbon-dioxide removal demo, as JAXA plans at least three HTV-X flights with an automated docking test on the second.