Kounotori 6

Kounotori 6 (こうのとり6号機), also known as HTV-6, will be the sixth flight of the H-II Transfer Vehicle, an unmanned cargo spacecraft launched to resupply the International Space Station.

As of December 2015, launch is scheduled for December 1st, 2016.

Spacecraft

Kounotori 6 will test several new technologies. The mission will test thin film solar cells in space. A reentry capsule, essentially a miniaturized HTV-R capsule, will be carried in the pressurized section.

This HTV flight will also have an experimental electrodynamic tether (EDT). The tether is equipped with a 20 kg end-mass, and will be 700 m long when deployed. A maximum 10 mA current will run through the tether. Kounotori's ISS rendezvous sensor will be utilized to measure how the end-mass moves during the test. The EDT experiment will be conducted following Kounotori 6's departure from the ISS, and is to be held for a week. After the experiment, the tether will be separated before the spacecraft proceeds with the de-orbit maneuvers.