Japan's HTV X-1 Cargo Spacecraft Unloading Underway | International Space Station

Japan's HTV X-1 Cargo Spacecraft: Unloading Underway | International Space Station

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) inaugural HII Transfer Vehicle-X (HTV X-1) successfully rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) on Oct. 29, 2025, for a Canadian robot arm capture and berthing to the Earth-facing port on the U.S. segment Harmony module.

The HTV X-1 was launched from JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H3 Launch Vehicle on Oct. 25, 2025, at 8 p.m. EDT, or Oct. 26 at 9 a.m. local time. It delivered a 4.4-ton cargo of food, crew supplies and scientific research.

With a successful capture by the 58-ft. robot arm commanded by ISS Expedition 73 astronauts Kimiya Yui of JAXA and NASA astronaut Zena Cardman at 11:58 a.m. EDT, NASA Mission Control commanded the berthing. The HTV X-1 is to remain berthed to the ISS for about three months.

“This is a significant event for the Japanese space program,” Yui radioed the JAXA and NASA mission-control teams.

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew

Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)

JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov

NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: JAXA/K. Yui
Release Date: Oct. 31, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #ISS #HTVX1 #CargoSpacecraft #Astronauts #KimiyaYui #油井亀美也 #Japan #日本 #JAXA #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education