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Beginning of Electrical And Functional Tests on the ATV

Les Mureaux, 22 January 2003

With the start of the electrical and functional test campaign at EADS LAUNCH VEHICLES site at Les Mureaux, the development of the European space cargo ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) is at a crucial point. The tests, which are intended to qualify electrical systems and validate flight software, will continue until mid-2004.

Designed for transporting supplies to the International Space Station and modifying its orbit periodically, the ATV will be the first European vehicle to perform a rendezvous in space and dock automatically with an orbital station.

Technological challenges

Developed by EADS LAUNCH VEHICLES, the European Space Agency's (ESA) development prime contractor, the ATV is a major technological challenge for the ten or so European countries participating in the programme. On the one hand, an orbital rendezvous has to kept under control automatically and, on the other hand, the operation has to be undertaken in conditions of maximum safety for the ISS crew. Therefore, between leaving Ariane 5, docking onto the ISS, including all the phasing, reboosting and "sleep" operations to the moment it returns down to atmosphere, the ATV must perform numerous manoeuvres in autonomous mode, together with other operations controlled in real time from Control Centre or the Station. As many manoeuvres that need to be thought up, designed, developed, tested, simulated and qualified in relation to extremely stringent ISS safety constraints.

Simulating missions

After the successful mechanical and thermal qualification test campaign carried out at the ESA-ESTEC in August 2002, ATV electrical and functional qualification tests have begun at the site of Les Mureaux. The tests, performed on the ETM (Electrical Test Model) using the FSF (Functional Simulation Facility), specially designed for the purpose, are aimed at proving that the ATV's electrical system is capable of operating correctly under extreme electrical conditions. The functional qualification will be implemented by running flight software, real equipment and simulation models that put the ATV into a realistic mission configuration. The qualification campaign will be finished by several rehearsals of the mission, which will take place a few months before launching Jules Verne, the first ATV flight model, which is at present being taken in hand by the main European industrial companies.

Europe's contribution to the ISS

Together with the Columbus laboratory, the ATV supply vehicle is the most important element in Europe's contribution to running the International Space Station. The module which will weigh about twenty tonnes will have three main tasks to accomplish: transporting food, changes of clothing, scientific equipment, drinking water, oxygen and nitrogen to the astronauts on the Station, together with the propellants needed for keeping the station operational. By using its engines, the ATV will also be able to correct the Station's orbit and compensate for frequent losses in altitude. At the end of its mission, the ATV will be used for removing various types of waste, which will be incinerated as the vehicle makes its controlled return into the denser layers of earth's atmosphere. Eight ATV missions are programmed at present. In September 2004, the Jules Verne "protoflight" will be launched by Ariane 5. After this, ATV production models will be built at Bremen, under the responsibility of Astrium Space Infrastructure.

About EADS LAUNCH VEHICLES:

EADS LAUNCH VEHICLES, the Europe's space transportation specialist, designs and develops the launch vehicles of the Ariane family, orbital infrastructures, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), the missiles for the French nuclear deterrent force, and a line of space equipment. Subsidiary of the EADS Group, EADS-LV employs 3200 people in France. Its 2001 turnover was Euro 1.045 billion.

Contact : Sophie BELAUD
Tel : 01 39 06 14 50 / 05 56 57 37 16
e-mail : sophie.belaud@launchers.eads.net