Sunday, March 09, 2008 at 14:48
The launch of 20-tonne Ariane 5ES lit
up the night sky in Kourou early on
Sunday. (Photo: ESA)
(EUX.TV) — The European Space Agency said on Sunday that it has successfully launched a new type of spaceship known as ATV that will become known as the ‘workhorse’ or ‘cargo truck’ for the construction of the International Space Station.
Jules Verne, the first of the ESAs Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV), a new series of autonomous spaceships designed to re-supply and re-boost the International Space Station (ISS), was successfully launched into low Earth orbit by an Ariane 5 vehicle this morning, the agency said on its website.
During the coming weeks, it will manoeuvre in order to rendezvous and eventually dock with the ISS to deliver cargo, propellant, water and oxygen to the orbital outpost.
Watch the launch now on this ESA video:
Lift-off occurred at 05:03 CET (01:03 local) from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
This flight required a new version of Europe’s workhorse launcher, the Ariane 5ES, specially adapted to the task of lofting the nearly 20-tonne vehicle – more than twice as heavy as the previous largest Ariane 5 payload – to a low circular orbit inclined at 51.6 degrees relative to the Equator and equipped with an upper stage with re-ignition capabilities.
“Last month, with the docking of Columbus, Europe got its own flat in the ISS building, with the launch of the first ATV, we now have our own delivery truck” said Daniel Sacotte, ESA’s Director for Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration, according to the agency.
Docking with ISS set for 3 April
Jules Verne ATV is now circling the Earth in the same orbital plane as the ISS but at an altitude of only 260 km, compared to 345 km for the Station. The vehicle is under constant monitoring by the dedicated ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France.
Located within the premises of the French Space Agency CNES, the ATV Control Centre will ensure flight control throughout the mission in coordination with the ISS mission control centres in Moscow and Houston.
After having demonstrated safety manoeuvres in free flight, the ATV will perform orbital ‘phasing’ manoeuvres in order to rendezvous with the ISS for a first docking slot scheduled for 3 April after the departure of NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Named after the famous French 19th century visionary and author, the Jules Verne ATV is the largest and most sophisticated spacecraft ever developed in Europe, combining the functions of an autonomous free-flying platform, a manoeuvrable space vehicle and a space station module.
About 10 m high with a diameter of 4.5 m, it weighed 19,357 kg at launch. It incorporates a 45-m3 pressurised module, derived from the Columbus pressure shell, and a Russian-built docking system, similar to those used on Soyuz manned ferries and on the Progress re-supply ship. About three times larger than its Russian counterpart, it can also deliver about three times more cargo.
The ATV is also the very first spacecraft in the world designed to conduct automated docking in full compliance with the very tight safety constraints imposed by human spaceflight operations. It features high accuracy navigation systems and a flight software far more complex than that used on Ariane 5.
Key European contribution to ISS
Decided by ESA in 1995 in order to pay for its contribution to the operational costs of the ISS, the ATV has been under development since 1998 by an industrial team led by Astrium Space Transportation and comprising more than 30 contractors from 10 European countries.
On this first ATV mission, Jules Verne will deliver 4.6 tonnes of payload to the ISS, including 1.150 kg of dry cargo, 856 kg of propellant for the Russian Zvezda module, 270 kg of drinking water and 21 kg of oxygen. On future ATV missions, the payload capacity will be increased to 7.4 tonnes.
About half of the payload onboard Jules Verne ATV is re-boost propellant, which will be used by its own propulsion system for periodic manoeuvres to increase the altitude of the ISS in order to compensate its natural decay caused by atmospheric drag.
Upon leaving, after four months spent docked to the ISS, Jules Verne ATV will carry away waste from the Station. It will then be de-orbited over the Southern Pacific Ocean and burn up in the atmosphere in a fully controlled manner.
Four more ATVs to be flown in coming years
Beyond Jules Verne, ESA has already contracted industry to produce four more ATVs to be flown through to 2015. With both ESA’s ATV and Russia’s Progress, the ISS will be able to rely on two independent servicing systems to ensure its operations after the retirement of the US space shuttle in 2010. The Japanese HTV (H-II Transfer Vehicle) will also soon join the scene. This will be vital to ensure the system’s overall robustness and reliability, ESA said.
– From the EUX.TV newsroom news@eux.tv
