The so-called Internal Ball Camera drone was sent to take pictures and video of the work of the astronauts.

Japan's space agency has released the first images taken by a drone it operates on the International Space Station (ISS).

The drone can float in a zero-gravity environment and is operated from earth.

Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the drone was delivered to the ISS in early June. But only now have the first images and videos that it captured been released.

The images can be sent in real time back to earth and will allow "flight controllers and researchers on the ground to check the crew's work from the same viewpoint as the crew".

Read more at BBC