It has also achieved a foothold in human spaceflight with the Columbus laboratory for the International Space Station (ISS) and the ATV cargo spacecraft, both developed by Astrium on behalf of ESA.
In order to consolidate these strategic capabilities and enable European human spaceflight to take a decisive step forward, Europe is now willing to maximise exploitation of the ISS beyond 2015 (ISS to Earth cargo return capability) in full agreement with its international partners.
Following the ESA Ministerial Council meeting in November 2008, member states consequently approved a new tranche of the ISS Development Programme, European Transportation & Human Exploration Preparatory Activities. This programme will run over 18 months from 2009 until 2011 and covers four main topics, one of which is the Phase A studies for a European Transportation System called ARV (Advanced Re-entry Vehicle).
Astrium, as the prime contractor to ESA, is responsible for the ARV Phase A studies. A stepped approach for the European space transportation system development is proposed, starting with the implementation of an ARV cargo transportation capability, with the objective of using this for cargo freight to the ISS and back to Earth in support of ISS operations beyond 2015.
Drawing on existing expertise and the ATV architecture, the new ARV space transportation system for cargo will comprise two main modules:
- a Service Module; derived from the ATV spacecraft
- a Re-entry Module
