{| class="wikitable infobox" style="margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em; width: 22em;" |+ h-ii transfer vehicle |- ! colspan="2" | 285px|h-ii transfer vehicle (htv-1) approaching the iss |- ! colspan="2" | description |- | role: || automated cargo spacecraft to resupply the international space station |- | crew:  || none |- ! colspan="2" | dimensions |- | height: || ~9.8&nbsp;m (including thrusters) |- | diameter: || 4.4&nbsp;m |- | spacecraft mass: || 10,500&nbsp;kg |- | total launch payload: || 6,000&nbsp;kgoverview of the "kounotori". japan aerospace exploration agency. retrieved 2011-01-18. |- | pressurized payload: || 5,200&nbsp;kg |- | unpressurized payload: || 1,500&nbsp;kg |- | return payload: || none |- | mass at launch: || 16.5&nbsp;ton |- | pressurized volume: || 14 m3 |- ! colspan="2" | performance |- |  endurance: || solo flight about 100&nbsp;hours, stand-by more than a week, docked with the iss about 30&nbsp;days |- |  apogee: || 460&nbsp;km |- |  perigee: || 350&nbsp;km |- |  inclination: || 51.6&nbsp;degrees |} the h-ii transfer vehicle (htv), also called , is an automated cargo spacecraft used to resupply the kibÅ japanese experiment module (jem) and the international space station (iss). the japan aerospace exploration agency (jaxa) has been working on the design since the early 1990s. the first mission, htv-1, was originally intended to be launched in 2001. it launched at 17:01 utc on 10 september 2009 on an h-iib launch vehicle. the name kounotori was chosen for the htv by jaxa because "a white stork carries an image of conveying an important thing (a baby, happiness, and other joyful things), therefore, it precisely expresses the htv's mission to transport essential materials to the iss". == design == left|thumb|structure [[file:htv from inside 02 - cropped and rotated.jpg|thumb|left|inside view of the pressurised logistics car
2009_introductions H-II_Transfer_Vehicles Space_program_of_Japan Supply_vehicles_for_the_International_Space_Station