Europe’s Automated Transport Vehicle is readied for its Ariane 5 launch to support the International Space Station

(Arianespace) – Preparations are intensifying for Arianespace’s milestone launch of the Automated Transport Vehicle (ATV), with the mission’s Ariane 5 delivered to French Guiana, and loading of the spacecraft’s dry cargo and water now completed.

The European-developed ATV will be lofted in 2008 by an Ariane 5 ES version of Arianespace’s workhorse launcher. After cruising then docking with the International Space Station, the ATV will deliver its payload of equipment, food, fuel, water and oxygen for the orbital facility’s crew.

Our photo report shows the latest activity for this history-making mission:

The MN Colibri roll-on/roll-off transport ship approaches French Guiana, completing its trans-Atlantic voyage to deliver the Ariane 5 ES launcher. Arianespace uses two such sea-going vessels to support its sustained mission rate, ensuring a regular – and highly controlled – flow of launch vehicle components and equipment from Europe.


Ariane 5 ES components are driven off the MN Colibri at Pariacabo Port for delivery to the Spaceport, where core’s central stage has now been erected in the Launcher Integration Building – kicking off yet another mission campaign. During its flight, this Ariane 5’s re-ignitable Aestus upper stage engine will perform two burns to place the ATV in its 260-km. circular orbit. A third burn will be made to de-orbit the upper stage at the completion of its mission.

Working inside the Spaceport’s S5 payload preparation building, team members begin loading cargo into the ATV. For its re-supply mission, the ATV will carry items that include spare parts, crew provisions, food and Orbital Replacement Units for the International Space Station.

The ATV’s loading operations are performed in clean-room conditions that meet standards for manned spaceflight, as the re-supply vehicle will become an integral part of the International Space Station while docked to the orbital facility. This first ATV is named after Jules Verne, and its cargo includes an edition of the visionary French writer’s book De la Terre à la Lune (From Earth to the Moon).

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