Cargo Vessel Should Not Conflict With Discovery Visit
ESA's second Automated Transfer Vehicle, Johannes Kepler, has
been launched into its targeted low orbit by an Ariane 5. The
unmanned supply ship will deliver critical supplies and
reboost the International Space Station during its almost
four-month mission. The Ariane 5 lifted off from Europe's Spaceport
in Kourou, French Guiana, at 21:50 GMT (18:50 local) on
Wednesday.
Johannes Kepler ATV Launch Photo Courtesy ESA
The launcher and its 20.06-tonne payload flew over the Atlantic
towards the Azores and Europe. An initial 8-minute burn of the
upper stage injected it, with Johannes Kepler, into a low orbit
inclined at 51.6 degrees to the equator. After a 42-minute coast,
the upper stage reignited for 30 seconds to circularise the orbit
at an altitude of 260 km. About 64 minutes into flight, the
unmanned supply ship separated safely from the spent upper stage.
The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) deployed its four solar wings
soon after and will proceed with early orbit operations over the
coming hours to begin its climb to the International Space Station
(ISS).
"This launch takes place in a crowded and changing manifest for
the ISS access, with HTV, Progress, ATV and the Shuttle coming and
going. In October last year we had fixed the ATV launch schedule
with our international partners," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA's
Director General, "and we could keep that schedule thanks to the
expertise and dedication of the European industry and Arianespace,
of ESA and CNES teams and of our international partners. ATV-2 is
the first of a production of four and this new step is the result
of technical expertise and political support from Member States to
ESA and to international cooperation. We are now looking for the
docking to ISS to declare success."
"ATV Johannes Kepler is inaugurating our regular service line to
the ISS," added Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA's Director for Human
Spaceflight.
For the first time, ESA used a special access device to load
last-minute cargo items. "This late access confirms ATV's role as a
critical resupply vehicle for the Space Station," she said. "Right
now, integration for the next vehicle in line, Edoardo Amaldi, will
be finished in Europe in August 2011, and production is under way
for ATV-4 and -5. Edoardo Amaldi is planned for launch in about 12
months. The other two will follow by 2014."
Flying in the same orbital plane as the Station but well below
its 350 km-high orbit, ATV is being constantly monitored by the
dedicated ESA/CNES ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC) in Toulouse, France,
in coordination with the ISS control centers in Moscow and Houston.
During the coming week, ATV will adjust its orbit to rendezvous
with the ISS for docking on February 24th.
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