World’s Biggest Transport Spaceship Launched By Japan

Adding yet another feather of achievement in their space missions, Japan on Wednesday successfully launched an unmanned spacecraft towards the International Space Station.

As stated on the website of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the H-2B rocket lifted off at 1:05 am local time with cargo vessel Kounotori8. The launch took place at the space agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Tanegashima Space Center in the southwestern region.

"As planned, the payload separated from the launch vehicle" about 15 minutes later, Mitsubishi Heavy said.

In a promotional movie published on its website, JAXA declared the Kounotori8, also known as HTV-8, as "the world’s biggest transport space ship."

Kounotori8, meaning "white stork" in Japanese, intends to deliver about 5.3 tonnes of supplies to astronauts at the ISS. It also includes fresh food and water as well as batteries and devices needed for experiments, stated phys.org.

The International Space Station also tweeted that the HIV-8 cargo from JAXA has safely reached orbit and is on its way to the International Space Station.

On Sept. 11, a pre-dawn fire had delayed the launch of the spacecraft from Tanegashima island.

NHK, a public broadcaster cited Mitsubishi Heavy as saying the fire erupted due to static electricity generated when liquid oxygen from the rocket came into contact with heat-resistant material on the launchpad.

They added that the material was covered with aluminum sheets to prevent recurrence.