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ESA's lorry to the International Space Station – ATV
17 July 2007
Jules Verne ATV is not only crucial for ISS operations; it also brings Europe a step further in the exploration of our Solar System.
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ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) will launch on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport, in Kourou, French Guiana. ATV will be used to restock the shelves in the International Space Station (ISS), at a frequency of one every 18 to 24 months. Weighing 20 tonnes and the size of a London double-decker bus, ATV is the largest spacecraft ever developed in Europe.
Every ATV will deliver up to 6 tonnes of cargo to the ISS. Apart from food, water, air and clothes, the ATV also carries propellant for the ISS and equipment for scientific use. ATV will also be used to reboost the Station's orbit to overcome the effects of residual atmospheric drag. After six months, the spacecraft will be loaded with waste before it is undocked for a destructive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, freeing up precious living and working space in the other quarters of the Station.
The ATV will perform automated dockings controlled by GPS and laser beams – a new technology that ESA scientists and engineers have been rehearsing for months.
The first ATV, named Jules Verne, has recently completed a successful test campaign at ESA's research and technology centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. On 13 July, Jules Verne starts a long journey to the launch site in Kourou.
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