ESA ATV-5 George Lemaitre: Robotic Resupply spacecraft set for July 24 launch

ESA ATV-5 George Lemaitre, the last of five robot resupply ships Europe was scheduled to provide for the International Space Station will be taken aloft on July 24, launch firm Arianespace said on Thursday.

Known as an Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), the freighter will be launched from Kourou, French Guiana, at 10:41 pm on July 24 (0141 GMT on July 25), it said in a statement in Paris.

The European Space Agency (ESA) was contracted to provide five ATVs for the first phase of manned operations by the US-led orbital platform.

The size of a double-decker bus, the cylindrical ATV modules are launched by a heavy Ariane 5 ES rocket, and use onboard motors and starlight navigation to rendezvous and dock with the ISS.

They bring water, food, fuel, oxygen, experiments and treats for the crew and provide much-appreciated additional living space.

At the end of a mission usually lasting several months, they undock from the ISS and burn up in the atmosphere in a controlled de-orbit.

The fifth ship is named the George Lemaitre, after the Belgian cosmologist who fathered the concept of the Big Bang which created the Universe.

The previous four ATVs were rated as very successful testbeds for automated space flight, and their technology is being considered for future US manned missions.

After the last ATV flight, the ISS will continue to be resupplied by the less sophisticated Russia's Progress freighter and fledgling US private contractors e.g. SpaceX

ESA Albert Einstein: ATV resupply spacecraft enters final preparations

Europe's fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to service the International Space Station is entering its final preparation phase for a planned Ariane 5 launch this spring from French Guiana on Arianespace's Flight VA213.

Named after Albert Einstein, the ATV is being processed in the Spaceport's S5 payload preparation building, where it was transferred yesterday from the facility's S5C large preparation hall into its S5B high-bay area.

Riding on an air cushion pallet, the ATV was efficiently moved within the S5 building using internal transfer corridors that are maintained to clean-room conditions.

Following its final preparations, ATV Albert Einstein will be moved to the Spaceport's launcher integration building, where the large spacecraft is to be integrated atop Ariane 5.

Weighing approximately 20 metric tons at launch, the series of Automated Transfer Vehicles are developed in a European program for resupply and servicing of the International Space Station, and they rendezvous with the orbital facility after being deployed by Ariane 5.

Produced by an EADS Astrium-led industry team for the European Space Agency, this latest ATV will carry some 6,270 kg. of fuel, water, air, oxygen and dry cargo to the space station.

Additionally, ATVs are commonly used to adjust the International Space Station's orbital altitude and make maneuvers to avoid collisions with space debris.

Flight VA213 signifies the 213th flight of an Ariane with this workhorse family of launchers since 1979.

Arianespace is responsible for launching all ATVs, and has orbited three of them to date: ATV Edoardo Amaldi in 2012, ATV Johannes Kepler in 2011 and ATV Jules Verne in 2008.