Copenhagen, 23/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU is to provide the International Space Station (ISS) with supplies of water, air and fuel, sending cargo of 6.6 t of freight - the heaviest ever sent by Europe - for this purpose on Friday 23 March.
It was from the station of Kourou in French Guiana that the Ariane 5-ES rocket sent an automatic transfer vehicle (ATV) into orbit for the third time. The ATV Edoardo Amaldi will deliver cargo to the ISS comprising 4 t of fuel, 285 L of water, 100 kg of oxygen and more than 2 t of various equipment, together with parcels and letters sent by the families of the six astronauts currently on board the station. It is mission accomplished, said the CEO of Arianespace, Jean-Yves Le Gall, but not yet for the European Space Agency (ESA), whose director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain remains cautious: “it is not yet a success for the ESA, just the start of an extremely long journey for the ATV Edoardo Amaldi into space. But it is an excellent start! There will be further critical stages (…), in particular the rendez-vous with the ISS during the night of 28 to 29 March, with the mission of the ATV not over until its disintegration in the Earth's atmosphere in five months' time.” This restocking exercise is to be carried out again every 18 months, with Russian and Japanese vessels, Progress and HTV respectively, also to carry out missions.
The MEP Christine de Veyrac (EPP, France) also commented on the mission, stating that “Europe is responding to its commitments and showing its partners that the Europe of projects is a reality. With this mission, the knowledge of all of our industries is on show to the world.” (MD/transl.fl)