The exercise is crucial to Japans planned usage of their experiment module for the International Space Station.
In the test program detailed Tuesday, Japanese engineers will use the robotic arm aboard the "Hikoboshi" part of the ETS-VII to release the smaller "Orihime" subsatellite, and then recapture it.
The second craft will not be released into open space but will instead drift briefly in an enclosed area formed within the docking system itself.
An onboard camera will take photographs of the docking procedure, and a camera on the robotic arm will also be used during the space test.
Japans National Space Development Agency has conducted several series of robotic tests of the arm and the two satellites, one called the chaser and the other the target, since the satellites were launched in 1998.
The satellites have changed their orbits and conducted several rendezvous maneuvers, giving engineers advanced space operations experience. The orbital life span of the two ETS-VII components is 1.5 years.
Once the Japanese experiment module is launched and installed aboard the ISS, Japanese astronauts will use a robotic arm to move payloads about that are to be mounted on the exterior of the module in an unpressurized pallet.
During the operational life of the space facility, Japan plans to send up robotic satellites and other unpiloted craft to dock with the station and exchange equipment and experiments. The ETS-VII research is considered essential in gaining experience for the upcoming station operations.
The Japanese space agency also announced that it successfully conducted a long duration test firing of the advanced LE-7A rocket engine Monday.
The test engine ran for 350 seconds at the Tanegashima Space facility. A skirt was attached to the rockets nozzle during the firing to protect the thrust chamber from overheating.
Repeated firing has caused coolant damage to other test engines, which are planned to power the H-IIA rocket in flight trials next year.
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