An unmanned Japanese rocket on Saturday, July 21 blasted off to deliver more than five tons of cargo to the International Space Station according to live images released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), RIA Novosti said.

The H-2B rocket lifted off from the southern island of Tanegashima on schedule at 11:06 am (0206 GMT) on Saturday and set off on weeklong flight to the ISS.

The Japanese rocket is carrying H-2 Transfer Vehicle-3 (HTV-3), nicknamed Kounotori 3 (Japanese for "White Stork 3") with more than five tons of space station hardware, scientific gear and crew supplies on board.

"The flight of the HTV-3 went true and as expected," said Josh Byerly, NASA's mission control commentator in Houston. "Everything now set up for the arrival of the HTV-3 coming up next week."