Fifth and last ATV is launched by Ariane 5ES

by | Jul 31, 2014 | commercial launch services, ESA, International Space Station, Satellites | 0 comments

At 2347GMT on 29 July 2014, the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) final Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV 05 (Georges Lemaitre) was launched into orbit on top of an Arianespace-operated Ariane 5ES launch vehicle.  The lift off of flight VA219 took place from the Kourou launch site in French Guiana. The flight was the 60th successful flight of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle family.

The 20 metric ton disposable freighter spacecraft is carrying several tonnes of food and supplies to the astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS).  It was the last of five examples of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) launched.  This ship was named after Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian Physicist and priest who first came up with the “Big Bang” theory of how the Universe was created.  ATV 05 is due to dock with the ISS on 12 August 2014.

During the final approach  to the ISS a new infrared camera and a new laser Lidar system will be tested. After it has made all of its cargo delivery, ATV 05 will undock and re-enter on a specially commanded trajectory to test prediction methods on what engineers think might happen to the International Space Station on its eventual decay or commanded re-entry.

Comment by David Todd: The ATV programme has been a mixed success.  While all five ATV craft were successfully launched and were docked with the ISS, with development costs included, at circa US$1 billion a piece, they were very expensive.  Still the technology was and is impressive as evidenced by the fact that NASA has chosen, albeit with a financial incentive from ESA, to use ATV as the basis of the manned Orion spacecraft’s service module.

About Seradata

Seradata produces the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochinaFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 525virgin galacticULAfalcon 9evaRoscosmosspacewalkDGAaviation weekBlue OriginInternational Space StationaresIGTsoyuzRocket LabBeidouawardsStarlinkspaceAirbus DSboeingSatellite broadcastingrussiamoonOneWebISROCargo Return VehiclemarsblogresearchspaceshiptwojaxaorionmarsimpactdelayhyperbolaEutelsatdemocratrocketlunarhypertextobamagoogle lunar prizelaunchVegathales alenia spaceSESconstellationtourismbarack obamafiguresnorthspaceflightIntelsatnode 2fundedRaymond Lygo2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Elon MuskAtlas Vromess2dassault aviationaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiosuborbitaltestmissiledocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbitinternetSLSLong March 2D/2ElectronNorthrop GrummanChina Manned Space Engineeringsts-122Ariane 5missile defensenewspapercotsgalileospace tourismflight2010Long March 4CspaceportExpress AMU 1buildspace stationaltairsoyuz 2-1aProton Minternational astronautical congressshuttlespace shuttleAriane 6scaled compositesIntelsat 23European Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmoshanleybudgetrulesnew yorkatvVietnamshenzhoucongressMojaveboldennew shepardLong March 2CInmarsatOrbital ATKcnesiaclunar landerGuiana Space CenterApollolawsUS Air ForceSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BKuaizhou 1AkscILSprotondarpaTalulah RileyElectron KSFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5Vega CNorth KoreaeuSkylonAstriumpicturebaseusaastronautdragonlanderfiveeventTelesatSSLAprilSNC50thinterviewLong MarchSea LaunchfalconWednesdaycustomerlinkatlantissuccessor

Stay Informed with Seradata

Stay informed on the latest news, insights, and more from Seradata by signing up for our newsletter.