On Saturday the Japanese cargo vessel HTV-7 was launched into space from Tanegashima, Japan. Already orbiting Earth it will arrive at the International Space Station on Thursday packed with scientific equipment and supplies for the six astronauts living 400 km above.

The 10-tonne spacecraft is carrying ESA’s new Advanced Closed Loop System that will recycle carbon dioxide on the Space Station into oxygen. Currently oxygen on the Space Station is extracted from water that has to be brought from Earth, a costly and limiting drawback. The new system promises to recycle half of the carbon dioxide thereby saving about 400 l of water sent to the Space Station each year.

“If you consider the Advanced Closed Loop System as an investment we expect to recuperate costs in just a couple of years as less launches to the Space Station will be needed to supply water” says ESA’s technical lead for the project, Johannes Witt.