TOKYO - Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 2:32 a.m. Japan Standard Time Oct. 31, capping off its first visit to the orbiting outpost.

The unmanned spacecraft was launched on a newly designed H-IIB rocket from Tanegashima Space Center on Sept. 11 to deliver supplies and instruments, and docked with the station Sept. 17 (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 18). After having all its cargo offloaded, it was stuffed with 1.6 metric tons of trash, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The HTV began its undocking procedure at 12:02 a.m. JST. The undocking schedule was deliberately postponed for 90 minutes to avoid the possibility of a collision with some space debris heading its way.

The unberthing procedure was achieved with the use of the station's Canadarm2, which grappled the 16.5-metric-ton cargo ship and released it away from the station. The HTV was scheduled to enter the Earth's atmosphere on Nov. 2, at 6:25 a.m. JST, where it will mostly burn up over the South Pacific.

HTV photo: NASA