Science and Exploration

Japanese Cargo Flight To Station Rescheduled

By Keith Cowing
May 24, 2013
Filed under

The launch of the H-II Transfer Vehicle “Kounotori2” (HTV2) planned for Thursday, Jan. 20, was rescheduled due to a forecast for weather conditions that would exceed launch restrictions. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency reset the launch for 11:37 p.m. CST on Friday, Jan. 21.

The launch of the H-II Transfer Vehicle “Kounotori2” (HTV2) planned for Thursday, Jan. 20, was rescheduled due to a forecast for weather conditions that would exceed launch restrictions. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency reset the launch for 11:37 p.m. CST on Friday, Jan. 21.

NASA still plans live television coverage of the launch from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. With an adjusted rendezvous plan, the grapple and attachment of the cargo ship to the International Space Station remain planned for Thursday, Jan. 27, and also will be covered live on NASA Television.

NASA TV’s updated programming schedule for HTV2 events includes (all times CST):

Friday, Jan. 21:

11 p.m. — Launch coverage, anchored from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, begins. Launch is scheduled at 11:37 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 27:

5 a.m. — Grapple coverage, anchored from Johnson, begins. The grapple of HTV2 is scheduled at 5:44 a.m. 8 a.m.
— Berthing coverage, anchored from Johnson, begins. The attachment should be complete at approximately 10 a.m.

For more information about Kounotori2 and the H-IIB launch vehicle, visit: http://www.jaxa.jp/countdown/h2bf2/index_e.html

For more information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.