The Edoardo Amaldi ATV, or
Automated Transfer VehicleThe Automated Transfer Vehicle or ATV is an expendable, unmanned resupply spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency . ATVs are designed to supply the International Space Station with propellant, water, air, payload and experiments...
003 (ATV-003), is a
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an unmanned cargo
resupply spacecraftUnmanned resupply spacecraft are a special kind of robotic spacecraft that operate autonomously without a human crew, designed to support space station operation...
named after
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
physicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
Edoardo AmaldiEdoardo Amaldi was an Italian physicist.He was born in Carpaneto Piacentino, son of Ugo Amaldi, professor of mathematics at the University of Padua, and Luisa Basini....
. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in 2012, on a mission to supply the
International Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo. It is the third ATV to be built, following the
Jules VerneThe Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 , was an unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency . The ATV was named after the French science-fiction author Jules Verne...
(2008) and the
Johannes Kepler The Johannes Kepler ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 002 , was an unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency . It was named after the German astronomer Johannes Kepler. The spacecraft was launched on 17 February 2011, on a mission to supply the International Space...
(2011). It is currently undergoing launch preparations at the Guiana Space Centre in
KourouKourou is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America.Kourou is the location of the Guiana Space Centre, France and ESA's main spaceport.-Geography:...
,
French GuianaFrench Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, where it arrived in August 2011.
Edoardo Amaldi will be launched on an
Ariane 5ESAriane 5 is, as a part of Ariane rocket family, an expendable launch system used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit . Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales...
rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in February 2012. The launch will be conducted by
ArianespaceArianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company. It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane 5 rocket launcher as part of the Ariane programme....
on behalf of the
European Space AgencyThe European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
.
ATV missions
| Designation |
Name |
Launch date |
Docking date |
Re-entry |
| ATV-001 |
Jules VerneThe Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 , was an unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency . The ATV was named after the French science-fiction author Jules Verne...
|
9 March 2008 |
Docked 3 April 2008 |
29 September 2008 |
| ATV-002 |
Johannes Kepler The Johannes Kepler ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 002 , was an unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency . It was named after the German astronomer Johannes Kepler. The spacecraft was launched on 17 February 2011, on a mission to supply the International Space...
|
16 February 2011 |
Docked 24 February 2011 |
21 June 2011 |
| ATV-003 |
Edoardo Amaldi |
29 February 2012 |
Planned |
Planned |
| ATV-004 |
Albert Einstein The Albert Einstein ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 004 , is a European unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft named after German-born physicist Albert Einstein. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in 2013, on a mission to supply the International Space Station with propellant, water, air, and...
|
February 2013 |
Planned |
Planned |
| ATV-005 |
unnamed |
February 2014 |
Planned |
Planned |
Sources:
See also
- Automated Transfer Vehicle
The Automated Transfer Vehicle or ATV is an expendable, unmanned resupply spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency . ATVs are designed to supply the International Space Station with propellant, water, air, payload and experiments...
- ATV-001, ATV-002
- H-II Transfer Vehicle
The H-II Transfer Vehicle , called , is an unmanned resupply spacecraft used to resupply the KibÅ Japanese Experiment Module and the International Space Station . The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has been working on the design since the early 1990s. The first mission, HTV-1, was originally...
- Progress spacecraft
- List of unmanned spaceflights to the ISS
External links