JAXA plans orbital cargo return spacecraft

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has unveiled plans for the design of its unmanned cargo spacecraft "HTV-R" to be capable of bringing back supplies from the International Space Station (ISS) with the first flights anticipated to occur between 2016 and 2018, according to The Mainichi Daily News. The concept spacecraft may be converted to a human-rated vehicle in the next decade as well.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) later this year known as ATV-2 Johannes Kepler. The ATV-3 Edoardo Amaldi will launch in 2012. The Russian space agency will continue to provide several Progress cargo spacecraft to the ISS.

American commercial space launch firms SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation are planning launches of new space station cargo spacecraft known as Dragon and Cygnus from Cape Canaveral, Florida and Wallops Island, Virginia, respectively.