Four astronauts, including Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, will be launched from the United States toward the International Space Station on board a private spacecraft before 7:00 pm on the 23rd of Japan time.

The launch has been postponed from 22nd to 23rd due to the influence of the weather, and Mr. Hoshide's space flight will be the third time.

Akihiko Hoshide, a Japanese astronaut, and American and French astronauts, a total of four people, boarded the second American civilian spacecraft "Crew Dragon" at 6:00 pm on the 23rd of Japan time. It will be launched from Florida, USA in 49 minutes.



The spacecraft will then be separated from the rocket and will arrive at the space station on the 24th.



Initially it was scheduled to be launched on the 22nd, but due to the weather, it was postponed to the launch on the 23rd.



Regarding the postponement, Mr. Hoshide posted on Twitter that "the time to enjoy the earth has increased by one day."



This is Mr. Hoshide's third space flight, and he will stay at the space station for about half a year, and will be the second Japanese captain after Mr. Koichi Wakata, as well as conducting scientific experiments.



The spacecraft and rocket were developed by an American private company as a reusable type that can be used multiple times, and the first stage of the spacecraft and rocket was used once for the first time in the launch with an aviator. Reuse things.

Second Japanese astronaut to be captain at the International Space Station

Akihiko Hoshide is 52 years old from Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.



This is the third space flight for the first time in nine years, and he will stay at the International Space Station for about half a year, and will be the second captain of a Japanese astronaut.



Mr. Hoshide became interested in space when he visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA as a child, and after graduating from university, he joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan at that time.



Initially, I was in charge of rocket development in Japan and support for training of astronaut Koichi Wakata.



Mr. Hoshide was selected as an astronaut along with Satoshi Furukawa and Naoko Yamazaki in 1999, but he applied for it while he was still in college and was selected for the third time.



In 2008, he made his first space flight on the Space Shuttle, and was the first Japanese to operate the robot arm of the International Space Station to assemble the Japanese experimental building "Kibo". I took the Soyuz to the International Space Station and stayed there for a long time for four months.



This time, following Astronaut Soichi Noguchi in November last year, we plan to board the private spacecraft "Crew Dragon", which is the second consecutive Japanese person, to dock at the International Space Station and stay for about half a year.



It has also been decided that the International Space Station will be the captain, and this is the second Japanese person to become the captain of the International Space Station, following Koichi Wakata in 2014.



Mr. Hoshide has been on board the American "Space Shuttle" and the Russian "Soyuz" so far, so with this "Crew Dragon" boarding, he will be boarding three different types of spacecraft. Is the second Japanese person after Mr. Noguchi.