FACTBOX-Japan's space laboratory Kibo

May 31 (Reuters) - The largest of the International Space Station's laboratories will be Japan's Kibo, which means "hope."

Here's a look at the complex, the second part of which was launched on Saturday on board the space shuttle Discovery:

* Kibo's main segment is a cylinder about 37 feet (11 metres) long and 15 feet (4.6 metres) in diameter, about the size of a bus, and weighs about 32,000 pounds (14,520 kg).

There is room inside for 23 refrigerator-sized racks, 10 of which will be devoted to science experiments. The entire lab is so big it needs three shuttle flights for launch and assembly.

* In addition to the main pressurized laboratory, Kibo has its own storage room, which was delivered to the space station in March, and a porch, to be taken into orbit next year, that will have robot arms to tend to experiments in the vacuum of space.

* Areas of research include materials sciences, fluid physics and biomedicine. Kibo also will host cultural activities, such as art and orbital dance, in addition to serving as a workplace for science.

* Japan will mount a high-definition television system outside the complex to beam pictures of Earth to the ground around the clock.

* Japan spent 20 years and about $2.8 billion developing the complex. The main segment is valued at about $1 billion. (Source: NASA web site, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) (Reporting by Irene Klotz in Cape Canaveral; editing by Jim Loney and Bill Trott)