ATV docks autonomously with ISS

About every 17 months, ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) delivers 7.7 tonnes of equipment, food, air and water to the International Space Station (ISS).

ATV has a system for fully automated docking with the ISS. A direct laser link with the station allows ATV to start accurate navigation to its target using GPS technology. From a distance of 249 m, the ATV computers use videometer and telegoniometer (laser-pulsed instruments that calculate the distance and orientation to the ISS) for final approach and docking. The approach slows to 7 cm/s, and the docking is completed autonomously with a precision of 1.5 cm while the two spacecraft are circling the Earth at 28 000 km/h.