The Japanese space agency is pushing for a domestic human spaceflight capability, proposing modifications to the country's International Space Station cargo delivery system to carry astronauts into orbit by 2025.
Artist's concept of the HTV spacecraft and a returnable cargo capsule. The proposed HTV-R spacecraft could launch by 2018, proving key technologies for a Japanese human spaceflight capability. Credit: JAXA
If approved by the Japanese government, the craft's development would follow a crawl-walk-run approach. Japan has already demonstrated its H-2 Transfer Vehicle can haul cargo and experiments to the space station, and next up could be developing a return capsule to bring equipment from the outpost back to Earth. (spaceflightnow.com)
The Japanese space agency is pushing for a domestic human spaceflight capability, proposing modifications to the country's International Space Station cargo delivery system to carry astronauts into orbit by 2025.
Artist's concept of the HTV spacecraft and a returnable cargo capsule. The proposed HTV-R spacecraft could launch by 2018, proving key technologies for a Japanese human spaceflight capability. Credit: JAXA
If approved by the Japanese government, the craft's development would follow a crawl-walk-run approach. Japan has already demonstrated its H-2 Transfer Vehicle can haul cargo and experiments to the space station, and next up could be developing a return capsule to bring equipment from the outpost back to Earth. (spaceflightnow.com)