Unmanned JAXA spaceship arrives with supplies, Christmas gifts at ISS

CANAVERAL FLORIDA – Japan's unmanned cargo spaceship loaded with supplies docked at the International Space Station at an altitude of about 400 km early Wednesday, the country's space agency said. Japan time after astronauts at the ISS caught the cargo transporter with a robotic arm. An H-IIB rocket carrying the cargo spaceship blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Friday. After the launch, the Kounotori6 was controlled by the Tsukuba Space Center of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in Ibaraki Prefecture, JAXA said. The cargo spaceship was carrying 5.9 tons of supplies including food, drinking water and other daily necessities for astronauts aboard the ISS, seven ultrasmall satellites developed by some universities and firms, and Japanese-made lithium-ion batteries for use on the space station, according to JAXA.