AriATV 5 launch

The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched its fifth and last automated transfer vehicle (ATV) ‘Georges Lemaître’ on a 14 day journey to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Ariane 5 ES carrier rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.

Arianespace’s Flight VA219 also marked the 60th consecutive successful launch of an Ariane 5.

Claimed to be the heaviest payload ever launched by Europe, the space vehicle will deliver 6,602kg of freight, including 2,681kg of dry cargo and 3,921kg of water, propellants and gases.

ESA Human Spaceflight and Operations director Thomas Reiter said: "It is with great pride that we saw the fifth successful launch of this beautiful spacecraft.

"But the adventure doesn’t end here. ATV knowhow and technology will fly again to space as early as 2017 powering Nasa’s Orion spacecraft with the European Service Module, ushering in the next generation of space exploration."

"ATV knowhow and technology will fly again to space as early as 2017 powering NASA’s Orion spacecraft with the European Service Module, ushering in the next generation of space exploration."

The cargo also includes compound scientific hardware including the electromagnetic levitator for experiments to enhance industrial casting processes, in addition to a sophisticated joystick that will test the deployment of force feedback in weightless environments.

This latest launch comes after the European Commission flagship Copernicus programme’s initial Sentinel-1A Earth Observation spacecraft Soyuz, launched in April 2014.

Upon scheduled docking with ISS on 12 August, space station crew members will carry out cargo operations, with the real-time monitoring to be executed from the ATV Control Center in Toulouse, jointly run by ESA and France’s CNES space agency.

Arianespace’s earlier missions included ‘Jules Verne’ (March 2008), ‘Johannes Kepler’ (February 2011), ‘Edoardo Amaldi’ (March 2012) and ‘Albert Einstein’ (June 2013), bringing its overall lofted payload lift weight of more than 100mt being delivered to the ISS.

Image: Ariane 5 launching with ATV Georges Lemaître from the Spaceport’s ELA-3. Photo: courtesy of Arianespace.

Defence Technology