Engineering:Kounotori 9
Mission type | ISS resupply |
---|---|
Operator | JAXA |
COSPAR ID | 2020-030A |
SATCAT no. | 45607 |
Mission duration | 1666 days, 15 hours, 38 minutes |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Kounotori 9 |
Spacecraft type | H-II Transfer Vehicle |
Manufacturer | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
Launch mass | 16500 kg[1] |
Payload mass | 6200 kg |
Dimensions | 9.8 meters in length, 4.4 metres in diameter |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 20 May 2020, 17:31:00 UTC[2] |
Rocket | H-IIB F9 (last) |
Launch site | Tanegashima, LA-Y2 |
Contractor | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Deorbited |
Decay date | 20 August 2020, 07:07 UTC |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Inclination | 51.66° |
Epoch | 20 May 2020 |
Berthing at International Space Station | |
Berthing port | Harmony nadir |
RMS capture | 25 May 2020, 12:13 UTC[3] |
Berthing date | 25 May 2020, 14:46 UTC[3] |
Unberthing date | 18 August 2020, 13:51 UTC |
RMS release | 18 August 2020, 17:36 UTC |
Time berthed | 85 days, 2 hours, 50 minutes |
Cargo | |
Mass | 6200 kg |
Pressurised | 4300 kg |
Unpressurised | 1900 kg |
Kounotori 9 (こうのとり9号機), also known as HTV-9 is the 9th flight of the H-II Transfer Vehicle, a robotic cargo spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station (ISS).[4][5] It was launched on 20 May 2020, at 17:31:00 UTC.[6]
Kounotori 9 is the last HTV of the original model, with following missions replaced with the HTV-X.[4][7]
Spacecraft
Major difference from the previous Kounotori are:[8]
- Camera assembly unit and Wireless LAN communication unit (WLD), described below.
Wireless LAN Demonstration
Wireless LAN Demonstration, or WLD (pronounced wild)[8] is an experiment that will be performed during Kounotori 9's flight. During the test, a video taken by Kounotori 9 will be broadcast in real time on board the space station, via a wireless LAN (WLAN) datalink.[9] The experiment will be conducting during Kounotori 9's approach, departure, and while berthed to the ISS.[10] For WLD, the spacecraft has a camera attached to its propulsion module, while a data processor and WLAN antenna is located at the Unpressurized Logistics Carrier's aperture.[8] The technology to be tested by WLD will enable ISS crews to monitor approaching vehicles during an autonomous docking.[11] According to JAXA, if successful this will be the first time for two spacecraft to communicate using WLAN during a rendezvous.[8]
Cargo
Kounotori 9 carried about 6200 kg of cargo mass, consisting of 4300 kg in the pressurized compartment and 1900 kg in the unpressurized compartment.[8] In addition to food items and crew commodities, the pressurized compartment (Pressurized Logistics Carrier; PLC)'s cargo consists of:[8]
- JAXA cargo:
- Solid Combustion Experiment Module (SCEM)
- Integrated Standard Imager for Microsatellites (iSIM), a commercial technology demonstration payload by Satlantis
- Equipment for the space media business collaboration (Space Frontier Studio KIBO)
- Confocal Space Microscopy (COSMIC)
- NASA cargo:
- EXPRESS Rack 11B (ER11B)
- Tank for Water Storage System (WSS)
- High-pressure nitrogen tank for Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System (NORS)
- ESA cargo:
- European Drawer Rack Mark II (EDR2)
Cargo in the unpressurized compartment (Unpressurized Logistics Carrier, ULC) was the Exposed Pallet (EP9) which carries the six lithium-ion batteries Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) for replacing the ISS's existing nickel-hydrogen batteries. This was the last of the series of transportation of replacement batteries, following the previous Kounotori 6, Kounotori 7, and Kounotori 8.
On departure from ISS, Kounotori 9 was loaded with the Exposed Pallet of Kounotori 8 (EP8) carrying the replaced nickel-hydrogen batteries. It was left on ISS due to the missed extravehicular activity during the Kounotori 7 mission for the launch failure of Soyuz MS-10 in 2018. The Exposed Pallet of Kounotori 9 (EP9) was left on ISS, and subsequently, it was disposed of by jettisoning into orbit on 11 March 2021 using Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), carrying old nickel-hydrogen batteries.[1][12]
Operations
Launch
Kounotori 9 was launched aboard the ninth and final launch of H-IIB rocket on 20 May 2020, at 17:31:00 UTC.[2] The launch took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so that the usual launch viewing places were closed to spectators, and the local town offices requested not to visit for launch observation.[13]
After the successful launch, the Kounotori 9 arrived to the proximity of the International Space Station on 25 May 2020, and it was captured by SSRMS at 12:13 UTC.[14] It was mated to the Harmony's Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM). Berthing operation completed at 18:25 UTC.[15]
Operation while berthed to ISS
ISS crew opened the hatch of the Kounotori's PLC, and entered at 19:24 UTC.[16] Cargo transfer of the pressurized cargo by the crew began on 26 May 2020.[17]
Exposed Pallet (EP9), which carries lithium-ion batteries, was extracted from the ULC by the ground-operated SSRMS on 1 June 2020.[18] Then, Kounotori 8's Exposed Pallet (EP8), carrying old nickel-hydrogen batteries, was stowed into the ULC on 02:48 UTC, 2 June 2020.[19]
Departure and reentry to the Earth atmosphere
On 18 August 2020, Kounotori 9 was detached from Harmony's CBM by the SSRMS, and it was released into orbit at 17:36 UTC. It was disposed by the destructive reentry to the Earth atmosphere at around 07:07 UTC, on 20 August 2020.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). Working Group on Space Development and Utilization, MEXT. 19 May 2020. https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20200519-mxt_uchukai01-000007357_1_1.pdf. - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Launch Result of the H-II Transfer Vehicle KOUNOTORI9 aboard the H-IIB Vehicle No. 9". Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 21 May 2020. https://www.mhi.com/notice/notice_200521.html.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Expedition 63". http://www.spacefacts.de/iss/english/exp_63.htm.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Krebs, Gunter Dirk (2016-07-11). "HTV 1, ..., 9 (Kounotori 1, ..., 9)". http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/htv.htm.
- ↑ "HTV-Kounotori sets sail for the ISS". August 18, 2015. http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/08/htv-5-kounotori-launch-space-station/.
- ↑ "Nasa launch announcement". NASA. 2020-05-12. https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1263161422189649925. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ↑ Krebs, Gunter Dirk (2016-07-11). "HTV-X 1, 2, 3". http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/htv-x.htm.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). JAXA. 14 May 2020. http://issstream.tksc.jaxa.jp/iss2/press/htv9_presskit_C.pdf. - ↑ "HTV9 Mission Timeline". JAXA. 2020-05-01. https://iss.jaxa.jp/en/htv/mission/htv-9/schedule/.
- ↑ "2020年(令和2年)5月理事長定例記者会見" (in Japanese). JAXA. 2020-05-15. https://www.jaxa.jp/about/president/presslec/202005_j.html.
- ↑ "ISS Daily Summary Report – 5/12/2020". NASA. 2020-05-12. https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2020/05/12/iss-daily-summary-report-5122020/. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ↑ "ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/11/2021". NASA. 11 March 2021. https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2021/03/11/iss-daily-summary-report-3-11-2021/.
- ↑ "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). Jiji Press. 21 May 2020. https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2020052100176. - ↑ "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). JAXA. 25 May 2020. https://iss.jaxa.jp/htv/mission/htv-9/news/capture.html. - ↑ "Successful berthing of the H-II Transfer Vehicle "KOUNOTORI9" (HTV9) to the International Space Station (ISS)". JAXA. 26 May 2020. https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2020/05/20200526-1_e.html.
- ↑ "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). JAXA. 26 May 2020. https://iss.jaxa.jp/htv/mission/htv-9/news/ingress.html. - ↑ Keeter, Bill (26 May 2020). "ISS Daily Summary Report – 5/26/2020". NASA. https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2020/05/26/iss-daily-summary-report-5262020/. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ↑ "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). JAXA. 1 June 2020. https://iss.jaxa.jp/htv/mission/htv-9/news/ep_0601.html. - ↑ "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). JAXA. 2 June 2020. https://iss.jaxa.jp/htv/mission/htv-9/news/ep_stowed.html.
External links