The ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) Jules Verne and its associated ground infrastructure, left Rotterdam on July, 17th, 2007 onboard the “Toucan” vessel, due to land in Kourou on July, 29th.
The shipment has an overall mass of about 400 metric tons. It includes among other things propellants for the ATV itself and also propellants for the ISS. It is made of 49 20 feet long sea containers, four 40 feet containers and 16 oversized dedicated containers. Additional pieces of equipment will be shipped later according to the requirements of the launch site operations plan. “This represents by far the largest shipment to Kourou ever organised for an Ariane payload.” said Nicolas Chamussy, Astrium‘s ATV program manager.
Dry cargo for the first ATV flight will be flown to Kourou mainly from the United States (NASA cargo) and Turin (ESA cargo) and later integrated in the vehicle by teams from Astrium.
The final integration and test campaign will start immediately beginning of August, in line with the schedule announced several months ago, paving the way for the inaugural flight planned by the European Space Agency (ESA) for end January 2008.
About Astrium
Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2006, Astrium had a turnover of €3.2 billion and 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are: the business units Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, and Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment, and its wholly owned subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2006, EADS generated revenues of €39.4 billion and employed a workforce of more than 116, 000.
Media Contacts:
Rémi Roland, (Astrium FR) Phone: +33 (0) 1 77 75 80 37
Jeremy Close, (Astrium UK) Phone: +44 (0)1 438 77 3872
Mathias Pikelj, (Astrium GER) Phone: +49 (0) 7545 8 91 23
http://www.astrium.eads.net
