Astrium All Set For ATV Launch

The first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) has a launch window and is set to head toward the International Space Station on Sunday, March 9th, from Kourou, French Guiana. The ATV will resupply the ISS, delivering experiments, equipment and space parts as well as those other, all-important necessities (critical, even) food, air and water, for the permanent, on board crew. Astrium is the prime contractor for ATV, which is slightly larger than a standard-sized London double-decker bus… here’s an illustration as proof of such… To launch the ATV into orbit, an adapted version of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle is required, one fitted with re-ignitable upper stage (EPS), built by Astrium. Powered by an Aestus engine, the ATV is connected to the launch vehicle through a specific, cylindrical adapter. The Separation & Distancing Module (SDM) is 2-m tall and 3.94-m in diameter. Additionally, the Ariane 5 equipment bay structure was modified to cope with the size and mass of the ATV, which is a payload more than 2x heavier than the heaviest payload ever flown on an Ariane 5—Hertfordshire, United Kingdom