New JAXA Cargo Vehicle Expands Pathway for Innovative Research to Reach the International Space Station

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), October 29, 2025 – A new and enhanced vehicle for researchers to send science to the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) has successfully launched and berthed with the orbiting outpost. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its next-generation cargo transport vehicle, HTV-X, to the space station October 26 from Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.  HTV-X represents an important milestone in international space collaboration and provides an additional pathway for researchers to access space through the ISS National Laboratory®, enabling discoveries with the potential to transform life on Earth.

As the successor to JAXA’s HTV “Kounotori” H-II Transport Vehicle, HTV-X is designed to deliver critical supplies and scientific payloads to the space station and is scheduled to make multiple trips to the orbiting laboratory in the coming years. On this inaugural mission, HTV-X will carry more than 20 ISS National Lab-sponsored projects, including several that will use an exterior platform to test materials and components in the extreme space environment. Results from this research will benefit humanity and drive a robust and sustainable economy in low Earth orbit(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles. (LEO).

“This launch represents more than a new spacecraft, it’s a new avenue for ISS National Lab-sponsored projects to access the space station,” said Robbie Hampton, director of payload operations for the ISS National Lab. “Over the years, the ISS National Lab has generated robust demand to utilize the orbiting outpost, and HTV-X expands our ability to send high-impact research to low Earth orbit, accelerating progress in fields that matter most to humanity.”

Below highlights some of the ISS National Lab-sponsored projects launching on this mission:

• More than 15 projects will leverage the MISSE Flight FacilityThe Materials International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility is a hardware platform on the exterior of the ISS that provides exposure to the harsh space conditions for the accelerated testing of materials and technologies with important applications both in space and on Earth. This ISS National Lab commercial facility is owned and operated by Aegis Aerospace., which is located on the exterior of the space station. The facility, owned and operated by ISS National Lab Commercial Service ProviderImplementation Partners that own and operate commercial facilities for the support of research on the ISS or are developing future facilities. Aegis Aerospace, exposes payloads to harsh space conditions like atomic oxygen and temperature and radiation extremes.
  • 3M, a global technology and manufacturing company thatdelivers industry-advancing solutions across transportation, electronics, safety, consumer, and industrial sectors, will test the durability of innovative film technologies for space applications. These films have the potential to advance space technologies with specialized electrical, optical, and environmental properties.
  • University of Notre Dame researchers have launched multiple projects to the ISS aimed at enhancing biosensing technology. Now, the team will test lightweight, high-strength polymer composite films for applications such as inflatable space station modules, spacesuits, satellite shielding, and deorbiting parachutes.
  • BULL, a startup aimed at providing inexpensive and concise services in space, will test materials for its future Post Mission Disposal (PMD) devices, which will allow spacecraft and satellites to autonomously deorbit upon mission completion. The use of PMD devices will help minimize space debris and reduce the risk of orbital collisions.
• ISS National Lab Commercial Service Provider Space Tango is launching its second Mambo facility, an advanced system that allows multiple research projects to run automatically with little to no astronaut involvement. Compared with earlier systems, Mambo features a larger, more open workspace that supports bigger and more complex experiments, along with greater power and data capacity and improved temperature control. It accommodates Space Tango’s standard CubeLabs as well as fully custom designs, maintaining the proven subsystem technology that has powered dozens of missions to the space station.

For nearly 25 years, humans have continuously lived and worked onboard the space station, supporting more than 4,000 research investigations that bring value to life on Earth and further humanity’s footprint in space. For more information about ISS National Lab-sponsored science and its impact on Earth, visit our website.

Download a high-resolution image for this release: Illustration of JAXA’s HTV-X Cargo Vehicle 

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About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory:

The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Laboratory® allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve quality of life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology, and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space® (CASIS®) manages the ISS National Lab, under Cooperative AgreementA cooperative agreement is Federal assistance that establishes a relationship between the U.S. Government and a recipient in which the principal purpose of the relationship is to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation.  Since 2011, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (CASIS™) has managed the National Laboratory® through a Cooperative Agreement with NASA. with NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration, facilitating access to its permanent microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit our website.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CASIS(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes). accepts corporate and individual donations to help advance science in space for the benefit of humanity. For more information, visit our donations page.