Japan's Kounotori Resupply Mission To ISS Delayed Amid Fire - NASA

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2019) The launch of Japan's Kounotori cargo and resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has been cancelled because of a fire, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration has announced.

"Japan's Kounotori H-II Transfer Vehicle's eighth journey to the International Space Station aboard an H-IIB carrier rocket was scrubbed due to a fire on the launch pad," NASA said in a statement late on Tuesday, without specifying the reasons behind the fire.

The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) was initially scheduled to liftoff from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan at 21:33 GMT on Tuesday, according to NASA.

"A new launch date is yet to be decided," the US space agency said in its release.

Kounotori missions deliver supplies and equipment to astronauts working on the ISS. It has the capacity to carry both pressurized and unpressurized cargo and can linger on-orbit for several days if there are problems with docking.

The Kounotori 8 (HTV-8) is planned to be replaced with an enhanced HTV-X mission in the early 2020s, according to NASA.