Automated Transfer Vehicle
Description
Role:	Supply the International Space Station with propellant, water, air, payload and experiments.
Crew:	Unmanned, but human-rated
Dimensions
Height:	10. 3 m (34 ft)
Diameter:	4. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit 5 m (15 ft)
Payload:	7,667 kilograms (16,900 lb)[1]
Performance
Endurance:	Docked with the ISS for six months
Apogee:	400 km
Perigee:	300 km
Inclination:	51. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit 6 degrees
Launch
Location:	ESA's Guiana Space Centre, Kourou in French Guiana
Site:	ELA-3
Booster:	Ariane 5

The Automated Transfer Vehicle or ATV is an expendable, unmanned resupply spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). The European Space Agency ( ESA) established in 1975 is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member The Guiana Space Centre, or more commonly Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG is a French Spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana. Kourou is a town and commune in French Guiana, an overseas ''région'' and ''département'' of France located in South America French Guiana (Guyane française officially fr ''Guyane'' is an Overseas department (French département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France Ariane 5 is a European Expendable launch Unmanned resupply spacecraft are a special kind of Robotic spacecraft that operate autonomously without a human crew designed to support Space station operation The European Space Agency ( ESA) established in 1975 is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member ^[2] ATVs are designed to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, payload and experiments. In addition, ATVs can reboost the station into a higher orbit. Reboost is the process of boosting the altitude of an Artificial satellite, to increase the time until its Orbit will decay and it re-enters the atmosphere In Physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of one object around a point or another body for example the gravitational orbit of a planet around a star

The first ATV, Jules Verne, was launched in March 2008 and ESA has already contracted suppliers to produce four more to be flown until 2015. Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 ( ATV-001) was an unmanned European cargo resupply spacecraft named after International holidays March 2 - Mothering Sunday (Britain March 7 - Nyepi (Indonesia ^[3] A total of seven ATVs could eventually be launched to the ISS, mission managers said. ^[4] Approximately €1. 35 billion EUR^[5] was spent by ESA on the ATV programme. Please update other articles as well to avoid contradiction within Wikipedia e

Design

ATV vs Apollo vs Progress

The ATV is designed to complement the Progress spacecraft, having three times its capacity. Like the Progress, it carries both bulk liquids and relatively fragile freight which is stored in a cargo hold kept in a pressurized shirt sleeve environment so that astronauts can have access to it without putting on a spacesuit. Bulk cargo is Commodity Cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities The ATV pressurized cargo section is based on the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), which is already in service as a Shuttle-carried ‘space barge’ transporting equipment to and from the Station. A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM is a large pressurized container used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station NASA 's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System ( STS) is the Spacecraft currently used by the United States

The ATV docking system consists of two videometers and two telegoniometers built by Sodern, a subsidiary of EADS^[6]. Additional monitoring data is supplied by a redundant Russian-made antenna^[7] built for the Ukranian-built Kurs,^[8] an automatic docking system similar to those used on Soyuz manned ferries and on the Progress re-supply ship. Kurs (Russian Курс is a Radio Telemetry system used by the Russian space program. Visual imagery is provided by a camera on the Zvezda module.

Also like the Progress, the ATV will additionally serve as a container for the station's waste.

Each ATV weighs 20. 7 tonnes at launch and has a cargo capacity of 8 tonnes:^[1]

• 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) to 5,500 kilograms (12,000 lb) of dry cargo (re-supply goods, scientific payload, etc. ),
• Up to 840 kilograms (1,900 lb) of water,
• Up to 100 kilograms (220 lb) of gas (nitrogen, oxygen, air), with up to two gases per flight,
• Up to 4,700 kilograms (10,000 lb) of propellant for the re-boost maneuver and refueling the station. The ATV propellant used for re-boost (monomethylhydrazine fuel and N₂O₄ oxidizer) is of a different type from the payload Russian refueling propellant (UDMH fuel and N₂O₄ oxidizer). Monomethylhydrazine ( MMH) is a volatile Hydrazine with the Chemical formula C[[Hydrogen H]]3 N 2 Nitrogen tetroxide ( dinitrogen tetroxide or nitrogen peroxide) is the Chemical compound N2O4 An oxidizing agent or oxidising agent (also called an oxidant, oxidizer or oxidiser) can be defined as either a Chemical compound Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine ( UDMH) (11-Dimethylhydrazine is a toxic volatile Hygroscopic clear liquid with a sharp fishy ammoniacal smell typical for organic Nitrogen tetroxide ( dinitrogen tetroxide or nitrogen peroxide) is the Chemical compound N2O4

Development

The prime contractor for the ATV is EADS Astrium Space Transportation, leading a consortium of many sub-contractors. EADS Astrium Space Transportation was formed in June 2003 from the Space Infrastructure division of Astrium (whose core was originally ERNO) and the The prime contractor office is currently located in Les Mureaux, France, and will be transferred to Bremen, Germany, once the development is completed and the production of the four initial units starts. Les Mureaux is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. Bremen (ˈbʁeːmən is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany (official name Stadtgemeinde Bremen / City Municipality of Bremen In order to facilitate the relationship between the contractor and ESA, an integrated ESA team at the Les Mureaux site has been established for the duration of the development.

The first ATV arrived at the ESA spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on 31 July 2007 after a nearly two week journey from Rotterdam harbour and was launched on March 9, 2008. Kourou is a town and commune in French Guiana, an overseas ''région'' and ''département'' of France located in South America French Guiana (Guyane française officially fr ''Guyane'' is an Overseas department (French département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France Events 30 BC - Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian 's forces but most of his army subsequently Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Rotterdam (pronounced) is the 2nd-largest City by population in the Netherlands, located in the province of Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common ^[9] The Jules Verne was the first ATV to be launched. ^[10] Astrium Space Transportation builds the ATVs in its facility in Bremen. EADS Astrium Space Transportation was formed in June 2003 from the Space Infrastructure division of Astrium (whose core was originally ERNO) and the Contracts and accords were signed in 2004 for four more ATVs, which should be launched about once every two years, bringing the total order, including Jules-Verne, to five.

To this end, RSC Energia has signed a 40 million euro contract with one of the main subcontractors of EADS Astrium Space Transportation, the Italian company Thales Alenia Space, to supply the Russian Docking System, refuelling system, and Russian Equipment Control System. SP Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia ( Russian: ru Ракетно-космическая корпорация "Энергия" им Please update other articles as well to avoid contradiction within Wikipedia e Thales Alenia Space is the company born after Thales had bought the participation of Alcatel in the two Joint-ventures between Alcatel and Finmeccanica Within the EADS Astrium Space Transportation led project, Thales Alenia Space is in charge of the pressurized cargo carrier of the ATV. These pressurized cargo carriers are produced in Turin, Italy.

Usage

The ATV is led to a controlled burn-up in the atmosphere after undocking from ISS.

ATVs are intended to be launched every 17 months^[11] in order to resupply the International Space Station. They will use GPS and a star tracker to automatically rendezvous with the Space Station. Basic concept of GPS operation A GPS receiver calculates its position by carefully timing the signals sent by the constellation of GPS Satellites high above the Earth At a distance of 249 m, the ATV computers use videometer and telegoniometer data for final approach and docking manoeuvres. The actual docking to Zvezda will be fully automatic. Zvezda (Звезда meaning "star" DOS-8, also known as the Zvezda Service Module, is a component of the International Space Station If there are any last-minute problems, a pre-programmed sequence of anti-collision manoeuvres, fully independent of the main navigation system, can be activated by the flight engineers aboard the station. Astronautics, or Astronautical Engineering is the branch of Engineering that deals with machines designed to exit or work entirely beyond the Earth's atmosphere.

With the ATV docked, the Station crew will enter the cargo section and remove the payload. The ATV's liquid tanks will be connected to the Station's plumbing and discharge their contents. The Station crew will manually release air components directly into the ISS’s atmosphere. For up to six months, the ATV, mostly in dormant mode, will remain attached to the ISS with the hatch remaining open. The crew will steadily fill the cargo section with the Station's waste. At intervals of 10 to 45 days, the ATV’s thrusters will be used to boost the Station's altitude.

Once its mission is accomplished, the ATV, filled with up to 6. 5 tonnes of waste, will be separated. Its thrusters will move the spacecraft out of orbit (de-orbit) and place it on a steep flight path to perform a controlled destructive re-entry high above the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions

Scheduled Missions

Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) approaches the International Space Station on Monday, March 31, 2008

^[12][13][4]

Jules Verne

Main article: Jules Verne ATV

A live-computer-generated illustration of the ATV docked to the ISS. Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 ( ATV-001) was an unmanned European cargo resupply spacecraft named after Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 ( ATV-001) was an unmanned European cargo resupply spacecraft named after Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 ( ATV-001) was an unmanned European cargo resupply spacecraft named after (Image: ESA)

The first flight of the ATV was delayed many times and launched on March 9, 2008. Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common It is named Jules Verne, in memory of the first science fiction writer of modern times, and carries two of the author's original handwritten manuscripts, to be received by the ISS crew as symbolic tokens of the success of the first flight. Jules Gabriel Verne ( February 8 1828 &ndash March 24 1905) was a French Author who pioneered the science-fiction ^[14]

The craft was launched into a 300-kilometre (190 mi) orbit atop an Ariane 5 from the equatorial ELA-3 launch site at the Guiana Space Centre. In Physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of one object around a point or another body for example the gravitational orbit of a planet around a star ELA-3, short for Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 3 ( French for Ariane Launch Area 3 is a Launch pad and associated facilities at the Centre Spatial The Guiana Space Centre, or more commonly Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG is a French Spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana. The ATV separated from the Ariane rocket and after weeks of tests and orbit adjustments successfully docked in the ISS at 14:45 UTC on April 3, 2008. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common

ATV Control Centre

The ATV is monitored and controlled from the ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC) in the Toulouse Space Centre (CST) in Toulouse, France. Toulouse ( pronounced in standard French, and in the local accent ( Occitan: Tolosa, pronounced) is a city in southwest This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The centre is responsible for all planning and executing of every orbital maneuver and mission task of the ATV, from the moment of separation from its launch vehicle, until it burns up in the Earth's atmosphere. The center has a direct communication line with the Columbus Control Center (Col-CC) in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. The Columbus Control Centre is the Mission Control Center which is used to control the European ''Columbus'' research laboratory which is part of the Oberpfaffenhofen is a village which is part of the Municipality of Weßling in the district of Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Col-CC provides ATV-CC with access to both the American TDRSS and the European Artemis communication networks in order to communicate with ATV and the space station. The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System ( TDRSS) is a network of Communications satellites (each called a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Artemis is a Geostationary earth orbit satellite (GEOS for telecommunications ATV-CC will coordinate its actions with Mission Control Center (MCC-H) in Houston, the FKA Mission Control Center (TsUP or MCC-M) in Moscow, Russia as well as the ATV launch site at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. Mission Control Center (MCC is a unit that manages aerospace flights Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The Guiana Space Centre, or more commonly Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG is a French Spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana. Kourou is a town and commune in French Guiana, an overseas ''région'' and ''département'' of France located in South America French Guiana (Guyane française officially fr ''Guyane'' is an Overseas department (French département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France ^[15]

ATV Evolution projects

An MSS could be used as a small orbital lab. (Image: ESA)

Following the decision by NASA to retire the Space Shuttle around 2010, the European Space Agency launched a series of studies to determine the potential for evolutions and adaptations of the ATV. The European Space Agency ( ESA) established in 1975 is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program NASA 's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System ( STS) is the Spacecraft currently used by the United States The European Space Agency ( ESA) established in 1975 is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member Most of these scenarios did not proceed beyond the study phase. Many of the studies were focused on the adaptation of the ATV in order to allow cargo return to Earth's surface.

• The MSS (Mini Space Station) concept an ATV evolution proposal under consideration for the future. It proposes multiple ATVs with two docking ports, one at each end. The current version of the ATV is already prepared for a docking port at the back, with the main propulsion system arranged in a cylindrical fashion leaving room for a tunnel through the middle. This concept would allow Soyuz, Progress and other ATVs to dock to the back of the ATV, allowing a steady flow of Russian vehicles using the available docking ports whilst an ATV is docked for an average of around 6 months at a time.

PARES capsules would be able to hold a few kg of cargo. (Image: ESA)

• The PARES (PAyload REtrieval System) would have included a small ballistic capsule similar to VBK-Raduga embedded into the ATV docking interface, which would have brought back a few tens of kilograms of payload. The European Space Agency ( ESA) established in 1975 is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member The VBK-Raduga capsule is a Reentry capsule that was used for returning materials to Earth's surface from the Space station Mir. PARES could have featured a deployable heat shield system. The European Space Agency was also proposing the system for use with the Progress spacecraft and the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV). The European Space Agency ( ESA) established in 1975 is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member

CARV would be used to transport a large amount of cargo to Earth. (Image: ESA)

• The CARV (Cargo Ascent and Return Vehicle) study investigated a larger lifting capsule, capable of bringing back a few tonnes of payload, which could have been installed in place of the ATV pressurized cargo hold. The European Space Agency ( ESA) established in 1975 is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member In addition, a goal was to allow CARV to dock at the US side of the station. Given the larger docking ports there, it would be possible to transfer complete International Standard Payload Racks (ISPRs) from the ATV to the station, which is not possible now. Such vehicles could have been available by 2010. However, the financial situation of ESA led to a priority given to PARES over the CARV. In the end, PARES was not proposed by ESA for approval at the latest Ministerial conference of ESA.

• Possibilities of launching of the ATV on other launchers than the Ariane 5 have also been investigated, in particular in the frame of Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, but NASA has meanwhile chosen to go for a US-only solution. Commercial Orbital Transportation Services is a NASA program to coordinate the commercial delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station.

• A Crew Transport Vehicle was another option under consideration. Similar to the CARV variant, this would replace the current Integrated Cargo Carrier with a pressurized re-entry capsule. A significant difference with the cargo-only variant would be the presence of a Crew Escape System, consisting of a number of booster rockets able to pull the crew capsule away from the launcher and/or Service Module in the event of an emergency. The CTV variant of the ATV would be able to seat 4 or 5 crew. ^[16]

Proposed manned version

A 3D rendering of the proposed ATV derived manned transportation system. (Image: Astrium)

EADS Astrium and the DLR announced on May 14, 2008 that they would pursue a project to adapt the ATV into a crew transportation system. EADS Astrium is an Aerospace subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS based in Hampshire England The German Aerospace Centre (DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common ^[17] The craft would be able to launch a 3 man crew beyond LEO via use of a modified version of the Ariane 5 rocket and would be more spacious than the Russian Soyuz. A Low Earth Orbit (LEO is generally defined as an Orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2000 km Ariane 5 is a European Expendable launch A mockup of the proposed craft was shown at the 2008 International Aerospace Exhibition in Berlin. International Aerospace Exhibition ILA Held bi-annually on the southern section of Berlin - Schönefeld Airport, ^[18] If the project is given ESA approval development will proceed in two stages:

• The first unmanned version, capable of transporting cargo from space to earth safely (see CARV above), would be developed by 2013. This capability would be available to ESA even if further development were to be halted. It would prove useful in the ISS project as well as the proposed Mars Sample Return Mission with NASA. A Mars Sample Return Mission would be a Spaceflight mission to collect rock and dust samples from Mars and to return them to Earth for analysis The budget for this stage of the ATV overhaul would reportedly be "well below €1 billion" according to Astrium. ^[19][20]

• The second stage would adapt the then existing capsule to be able to transport people safely and would last 4 to 5 years at a cost of "a couple of billion (€)" according to a senior Astrium representative. ^[21][22]

It should also be noted that both ESA and EADS Astrium are also involved in the Crew Space Transportation System development program along with JAXA and the Russian Federal Space Agency. The European Space Agency ( ESA) established in 1975 is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member EADS Astrium is an Aerospace subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS based in Hampshire England CSTS or ACTS (Crew Space Transportation System and Advanced Crew Transportation System respectively is a Human spaceflight system which is jointly studied by The, or JAXA, is Japan's national Aerospace agency JAXA was formed on October 1 2003 as an Independent Administrative Institution through the The Russian Federal Space Agency ( Russian: Федеральное космическое агентство России Federal'noe kosmicheskoe agentstvo Rossii This in all probability means that at least one of the two projects will be abandoned by ESA at some point.

See also

• H-II Transfer Vehicle – a similar ISS cargo vehicle being developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), first flight scheduled for 2009. The, or JAXA, is Japan's national Aerospace agency JAXA was formed on October 1 2003 as an Independent Administrative Institution through the
• Commercial Orbital Transportation Services – NASA initiative to create a commercial cargo and crew transportation capability to and from the ISS.
• Progress spacecraft – Cargo spacecraft currently operated by the Russian Federal Space Agency Roskosmos. The Russian Federal Space Agency ( Russian: Федеральное космическое агентство России Federal'noe kosmicheskoe agentstvo Rossii
• CSTS

References

External links

• "Automated Transfer Vehicle, Rev 1.2" (PDF). esa. int. European Space Agency. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
• ESA's description of the ATV
• ESA's ATV operations page
• ATV press kit by EADS Astrium
• Space.com's Progress Made for Launch of Europe's Delayed ATV
• Alenia Spazio to build 6 ATVs
• ATV Integrated Cargo Carrier
• First ICC
• ATV spacecraft subassembly
• European companies working on ATV
• ESA: ATV Evolution Scenarios
• BBC article about the ATV
• ESA ATV rendezvous and docking Infokit
• Europe could get manned spaceship