JAXA Sets Oct. 21 H3 Launch for New HTV-X ISS Cargo Craft

Japan’s space agency said it will launch its first HTV-X uncrewed cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station on 21 October. The 8-metre-long vehicle, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Electric, will ride aboard the seventh H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center. JAXA has set a liftoff target of around 10:58 a.m. local time, with a backup window extending to the end of November. HTV-X succeeds the H-II Transfer Vehicle, which completed nine successful ISS supply runs from 2009 to 2020. The mission will test new solar arrays and a redesigned propulsion module while delivering food, experiments and equipment to the orbital laboratory, where Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui is on a six-month stay. The announcement comes as JAXA weighs providing an H3 launcher and onboard components for the European Space Agency’s planned Ramses probe to study the Apophis asteroid ahead of its 2029 Earth fly-by, highlighting growing Japan-Europe cooperation and broader commercial ambitions for the H3 platform.