NASA is talking business with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to purchase units of the Japanese H-2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV) as successor to its space shuttles that are scheduled to retire in 2010, the Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Sunday.

The acquisition of the H-2 unmanned transfer vehicle, which is developed by JAXA, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and others and costs 14 billion yen ($131 million), would mean the biggest such deal in Japan’s 50-year space development history.

The Japanese H-2 Transfer Vehicle has been in works since early 1990s, and was originally intended for its first space trip in 2001. However, the launch has been delayed until 2009, when the vehicle measuring 10 m in length and 4.4 m in diameter is scheduled to pay a visit to the International Space Station.

The HTV can carry up to 6 tons of supplies, although it has been suggested it could carry up to 7.6 tons, and was designed for a total of eight International Standard Payload Racks. The vehicle itself weighs 10.5 tons and will be launched into space from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.

The deal between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency hasn’t been confirmed yet, but according to the Japanese newspaper, NASA’s proposal was driven by concerns that after the retirement of its shuttles, the U.S. will be unable to carry supplies to the International Space Station.

Japan is currently contributing to the International Space Station mission with the KIBO laboratory and three astronauts. So far, the necessary equipment and supplies for the astronauts on the ISS has been ensured by Russia and the United States, but things will change once the development process of the H-2 vehicle is completed.

According to JAXA, the operations of HTVs will not only offer low-cost and reliable means of transportation to the ISS, but it will also serve Japan as basis for future technological projects on the Space Flyer Unit and manned transportation.