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Japan's Cargo Ship Reaches the International Space Station

The resupply ship is called Kounotori, or 'white stork,' because it's for special deliveries (awww).
Image: NASA TV

A Japanese vehicle headed to resupply the International Space Station has arrived and been successfully grabbed by the orbiting lab's robot arm.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA's) Kounotori 5 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV 5) launched on August 19 to take equipment and supplies up to the ISS. On Monday morning, NASA reported that JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui had successfully captured the cargo ship using Canadarm2, the 17-metre-long robotic arm that sticks out of the space station.

HTV capture was successful! Thank you for your support and hard work! 皆さん。こうのとり、無事に届きましたよ!人生の中で最も日の丸を誇らしく思った日です! pic.twitter.com/K28GDDEO3k
— 油井 亀美也 Kimiya.Yui (@Astro_Kimiya) August 24, 2015

The HTV series was named "Kounotori," which means "white stork" in Japanese, because it delivers "important cargo" (awww). In this case, the four-and-a-half-ton special delivery contains a bunch of equipment for science experiments and satellites, including 14 Earth imaging CubeSats called "Doves" to continue the bird theme.

The package will no doubt be warmly received in a year that's seen several dramatically failed resupply attempts by SpaceX and Russia's Progress 59.

Now it's safe in the clutches of the robot arm, it needs to be transferred to a port on the ISS. NASA plans to livestream the installation from around 9.25 AM ET.