End of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) programme

The undocking and reentry of ATVGeorges Lemaitrewill mark the end of the series of ESA vessels that has delivered cargo to the International Space Station, including food, drinking water, gases, research and maintenance equipment and around three tonnes of propellants each time. The versatile craft has also regularly boosted the Station’s orbit and occasionally manoeuvred the complex to avoid collisions with space debris. There will be no more ATVs but the technology will live on as part of the service module provided by ESA for NASA’s Orion spacecraft.