Arianespace launches ATV4 cargo vessel to ISS

European commercial launch services provider Arianespace has launched the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ATV4 (Automated Transfer Vehicle) cargo vessel to the International Space Station (ISS).

Named the Albert Einstein, the ATV-4 mission was carried out by an Ariane 5 ES launcher from European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on 5 June.

The Ariane 5 rocket has placed the ATV-4 into the planned circular geostationary orbit at an altitude of 260km about 64 minutes later; the ATV then deployed its four power-generating solar wings and antenna boom.

ESA director general Jean-Jacques Dordain said: "With another successful launch of the ATV, and another record in lifting capacity, European industry demonstrates its capacity to produce unique spacecrafts, providing ESA with a key role among the partners of the International Space Station."

The autonomous supply ship carried 5687lb of propellants for reboosting the ISS’s orbit and an additional 1895lb to refill the tanks of the Zvezda module.

In addition, it will pump 1256lb of drinking water and 220lb of gases into the tanks of the ISS.

The ATV-4 is being monitored by the ATV Control Centre, jointly operated by ESA and CNES, the French space agency, in Toulouse, France.

It will perform a series of manoeuvres to dock automatically with the ISS on 15 June and will spend over four months docked to the Zvezda module of the ISS, when it will provide extra storage room and a quiet rest area for the astronauts.

In addition, it will also offer a manoeuvring capability to raise the station’s altitude to combat natural orbital decay and, if required, to steer it out of the way of dangerous space debris.

At the end of its mission, the supply ship filled with waste will be detached from the ISS and de-orbited on 28 October and make a safe controlled re-entry to Earth over the South Pacific.

Developed for ESA by the European industry in partnership with Astrium as prime contractor, the ATV has been designed to deliver goods and propellants under an agreement with Nasa to support Europe’s share of the station’s operating costs.

The ATV features navigation systems, redundant flight software and a self-monitoring and collision-avoidance system with independent power supplies, control and thrusters.

Featuring large cylinder measuring about 10m long by 4.5m in diameter, the ATV-4 comprises two parts; a service module with the avionics and propulsion subsystems, and a pressurised cargo carrier.

The last ATV, called Georges Lemaître, is being prepared for launch in 2014.

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Image: The ATV-4 mission, which is designated as the Albert Einstein, was carried out by an Ariane 5 ES launcher from European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Photo: courtesy of European Space Agency.