Discovery is about to be hijacked by Japanese spacecraft.

On January 22, Japan successfully launched unmanned transport spacecraft HTV2 to bring goods to the International Space Station (ISS). Expected, from next month, HTV2 will replace the US Discovery spacecraft to undertake this task.

The H-2B rocket carrying Japanese HTV2 transport ship left the launch pad at 5:37 GMT
at Tanegashima Space Center on January 22

The ship was launched by H-2B boosters at 5:37 GMT at Tanegashima Space Center, Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Japan. 15 minutes after leaving the launch pad, the HTV2 spacecraft separated from the boosters and flew into the intended trajectory. According to the plan, the launch will take place on January 20 but must be postponed for 2 days due to weather reasons.

This is the second time that Japan has succeeded in using H-2B boosters to bring space ships to the ISS Station, opening a new era in the country's exploration and conquest of the universe . JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), the HTV2 vessel will continue to fly in orbit around the Earth, then gradually increase speed and is expected to arrive at ISS Station on 27 or 28 / first.

Transport HTV2, also known as Konotori 2, carries 5.3 tons of cargo including food, drinking water, utensils and some experimental tools for astronauts present on ISS, in there was a Japanese space scientist working in Japan's Kibo Experimental Chamber . Kibo (Hope) is the largest scientific research room among the experimental compartments available on ISS.

In September 2009, Japan successfully launched the H-2B rocket to bring HTV space ship to ISS station. The H-2B rocket is built by JAXA in collaboration with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. on an innovative H-2A rocket. It is expected that HTV2 will replace US Discovery to undertake the ' resupply ' task for the ISS after the US stops using it. Discovery will have the last flight on February 24.