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Astrium

Keywords

Orbital & ISS

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Do you have questions concerning this picture? Please get in touch with:

Emmanuel Poutot-Nojaroff

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ATV - Automated Transfer Vehicle

Work on the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) at ESA in Nordwijk, Netherlands. The unmanned supply vehicle ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) is Astrium-developed and built for the European Space Agency (ESA). As a lifeline to Earth, the ATV will ferry propellants, food, water and equipment to the ISS. Once docked, it will use its own engines to correct the station's orbit, compensating for a regular loss of altitude due to drag and will contribute to collision and debris avoidance. At the end of its mission, lasting up to six months, it will be filled with waste and burn up as it heads back into the atmosphere. The ATV will be the first European spacecraft to carry out an automatic rendezvous and docking with a space station. The first ATV, called Jules Verne, will be launched by an Ariane 5 in 2007. A total of five missions are planned for the period up to 2013.