AUTOMATED TRANSFER VEHICLE
The first two flawless ATV missions in 2008 and 2011 demonstrated a full range of capabilities with the Station, including automatic rendezvous and docking, several reboosts, attitude control and special manoeuvres to avoid collision with space debris.
At the end of each mission, ATV is loaded with rubbish from the Station and undocks for a controlled re-entry, burning up in the atmosphere over an uninhabited area of the southern Pacific Ocean.
ATV is the most complex spacecraft ever built in Europe, combining the fully automatic capabilities of an unmanned vehicle with human spacecraft safety requirements. It is a critical resupply tool for the Station – especially following the retirement of the US Shuttle.
The third ATV will be launched in March 2012, named after Edoardo Amaldi, an Italian cosmic ray physicist and one of the founding fathers of European space research.