An unpiloted Japanese cargo transporter docked with the International Space Station early Saturday to deliver 4.6 tons of supplies and experimental hardware, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said. The station crew members including Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide will open up the hatch and enter the Kounotori 3 later in the day to carry the supplies into the station. "The docking went quite smoothly. We were nervous because (the unit) was made of domestically built equipment but we were glad Mr Hoshide and other crew members captured it and will continue operations," Yukio Koyari, a project manager, said at the agency's Tsukuba Space Centre. The third cargo transporter sent by the agency was aboard a rocket launched a week ago from the Tanegashima Space Centre. The vehicle is scheduled for separation from the station on September 7, according to a report of DPA. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three new crew members including Hoshide docked with the space station last week.
