Japan joins Space Station Cargo Supply Team

I only found out earlier this evening that Japan's H3 rocket was set to join the cargo "trucks" that keep the International Space Station supplied with all the essentials to stay operational.  This was the seventh launch of an H3, called the (H3 F7) carrying the cargo transfer spacecraft called the HTV-X1. We watched until they declared "nominal orbital insertion."  

The HTV-X is the successor to JAXA's H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), also known as Kounotori (Japanese for "White Stork"), which flew nine missions to the International Space Station (ISS) between September 2009 and May 2020.

At 26.2 feet (8 meters) long, the new freighter is about 4 feet (1.2 m) shorter than its predecessor, but it can loft roughly the same payload mass to low Earth orbit (about 13,200 pounds, or 6,000 kilograms). The HTV-X also offers other advantages.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which builds the HTV-X for JAXA, added in a description of the vehicle: "HTV-X enhances transportation capabilities and adds the capability to provide various users with on-orbit demonstration opportunities for up to 1.5 years after leaving ISS until reentry." 

Assuming this mission certifies the HTV-X, the new ship increases the number of cargo ships available for the ISS by a third, from three to four certified launch vehicles.  Currently, the Russian Progress Ship is still approved, along with the two US made ships: Northrop Grumman's Cygnus and SpaceX's Dragon. SpaceX is still under contract to launch the Cygnus as Northrop waits on Firefly Aerospace to build and deliver the next version of the Antares launch vehicle called the Antares 33. For completeness sake, only the Dragon is reusable. The other three are all designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere when their missions are over. 

Screen capture of the JAXA YouTube coverage of tonight's launch, three seconds after liftoff, as you can see.