ATV Overview A cutaway view of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) . (Image: ESA/D. Ducros)The International Space Station (ISS) depends on regular deliveries of experimental equipment and spare parts as well as food, air and water for its permanent crew. From its first launch in March 2008, Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) will become one of the indispensable ISS supply spaceships. Approximately every 17 months or so, the ATV will deliver up to 7.7 tonnes of cargo to the International Space Station 400 km above the Earth after being launched into orbit from the European Spaceport in French Guiana by an Ariane 5 launcher. An on-board high precision navigation system will automatically guide the ATV on a rendezvous trajectory towards the ISS, where it will dock with the Station’s Russian Service Module, Zvezda. The ATV willremain attachedas a pressurisedand integral part ofthe Station for up to six months. During this time the ATV will also be used to reboost the ISS to a higher altitude to counter the effects of atmospheric drag. The final part of its mission will be the removal and disposal of up to 6.4 tonnes of equipment, material and general waste that is no longer used on the Station. This will be placed in the ATV, which will undock and take a one-way trip to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. New generation spaceship The ATV, which is equipped with its own propulsion and navigation systems, is a multi–functional spaceship, which combines both the fully automatic capabilities of an unmanned vehicle with human spacecraft safety requirements. To succeed in docking safely with the Station, the ATV developed by the European Space Agency and European Artist’s impression of the ATV on approach to docking with the International Space Station. (Image: ESA/D. Ducros)
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8/14/2019 ESA ISS Automatic Transfer Vehicle Overview
The Pressurised section of the ATV Integrated Cargo carrierbeing loaded with dry cargo on 8 December 2007.
(Image: ESA /CNES/Arianespace/Photo optique video du CSG)
Unpressurised section (Fluid cargo) Behind the back wall or interface of the pressurisedsection is the unpressurised section of theIntegrated Cargo Carrier where the fluid cargo isstored. This external bay houses 22 spherical fluidtanks of different sizes and colours. These tanksare used to resupply the Station with refuellingpropellant for the Station's own propulsion system,
water and air (oxygen and nitrogen) for the crew
- 840 kg of drinking water;- 100 kg of air (oxygen and nitrogen);- 860 kg of refuelling propellant for the Station’s
propulsion system;- 4700 kg of propellant for re-boost;- 5500 kg of dry supplies like bags, drawers and
fresh food;
Front Cone (Rendezvous and Docking Equipment) The ‘nose’ of the Integrated Cargo Carrier housesthe Russian-made docking system and avionicsand propulsion hardware, critical to the automaticapproach, rendezvous and docking of the ATVwith the ISS. There are two videometers (imageprocessing system able to compute distance andorientation of the ISS), two telegoniometers,
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Avionics The avionics bay is the brain of the ATV. It lookslike a cylindrical ring of 1.36m high, and is locatedin the upper part of the Service Module. It
accommodates critical items like computers,gyroscopes, navigation and control systems andcommunications equipment. All these items aremounted on ten equipment carrier trays which areprotected from the temperature variations bystate-of-the-art heat pipes. The ATV ServiceModule takes advantage of a very sophisticatedarchitecture for its hardware and software in orderto keep the ATV functioning in case of hardware
failure or main malfunction.
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electrical power to rechargeable batteries, whichare vital for powering ATV systems during eclipseperiods in orbit. The solar arrays are comprised ofsilicium solar cells, spread on 4 carbon fibrereinforced plastic sandwich panels per array witha total surface area of 33.6m² (4 X 8,4m²) andable to produce an average of 4800 watts. Mounted on the ATV Service Module, the four suntracking arrays are totally independent and canget the best orientation to the sun thanks torotating mechanisms.
ISS attitude control, debris avoidancemanoeuvres and reboosting the Station. In orderto perform this reboost the ATV may use up to 4.7tonnes of its own propellant at intervals of 10 to 45days. At the end of the mission the ATV ServiceModule thrusters will use their remaining fuel tode-orbit the spacecraft.
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The ATV will be launched from the EuropeanSpaceport in French Guiana by an Ariane 5 ESATV. It will be injected into a 51.6º orbit, the sameas the ISS, and at an altitude of around 260 km,
below the Stations' altitude of around 340 km.
Ariane 5 moving by rail to the launch pad.
Finally, with 6 min 30 s until ignition of the mainstage engine, the automatic sequence coveringthe final checks and launcher activationprocedures begins. The launcher becomes
autonomous with 1 min until main stage ignitionas the power supply is switched to Ariane 5internal power.
With 22 s until main stage ignition the flight controlsystems on the lower stages are activated,followed 10 s later by a pressure check on themain stage tanks. The main stage engine is nowignited.
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Once it has been ascertained that the Vulcain 2engine is running normally, 7 s after ignition, thesolid rocket boosters are ignited and the Ariane 5lifts off from the launch pad. The Ariane 5 is on
automatic pilot and is carefully monitored as itcarries the ATV into orbit.
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Artist’s impression of the Ariane 5/ATV following fairing jettison. (Image: ESA/D. Ducros)
Just over 9 minutes after launch the Vulcain engineshuts down. At this point the main stage separatesand follows a ballistic trajectory during before re-entering the atmosphere. Most of it burns up in theatmosphere and the remaining parts fall into thePacific Ocean, some 2000 km off the coast ofSouth America.
After main stage separation over the AtlanticOcean, the Aestus engine of the upper stage willperform a first boost lasting 8 minutes to reach anelliptical orbit (136 km x 260 km). After a coastingphase to the apogee of the elliptical orbit lasting45 minutes, a second boost with a duration of 30seconds serves to reach the ATV circular injectionorbit at an altitude of 260 km.
This second firing of the Aestus engine will takeplace over southeast Australia, just over an hourinto the flight. At this point ATV telemetry will startas will the initialisation of the ATV propulsionsystem and the ATV Control Centre will carry out acheck of ATV status. Just short of 70 minutes afterlaunch the ATV will separate from the Ariane 5
upper stage over the Pacific and will activatenavigation and propulsion systems. Responsibilityfor the ATV flight has now transferred from Kourouto the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France.
ATV communications are optimised by setting upa link via the Tracking and Data Relay SatelliteSystem. About 25 minutes after final separationthe ATV will be automatically navigating using
i t f it t t k Thi i f ll d fi
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When the Jules Verne ATV is launched to the ISSit will be carrying around 8.3 tonnes of wet and drycargo with an additional 2.3 tonnes of cargosupport hardware. The cargo will be used in orderto transport the ATV to the ISS, to reboost the ISSto a higher orbiting altitude, to resupply the ISS,and to deorbit the ATV with waste and items nolonger needed on the ISS at the end of themission. The cargo is split as follows:
Refuelling propellant (860 kg)Once attached to the Station, 860 kg of refuellingpropellant will be transferred from the ATV to theISS. This consists of two different fluids: the fuelunsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) andthe oxidiser, nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4), whichprovides a source of oxygen so the fuel can igniteand burn in orbit. This will be used by the ISS fororbit and attitude control.
Water (270 kg)This is what is known as potable water for use bythe crew for drinking, food rehydration and oralhygiene.
Oxygen (20 kg)This is used for resupply of oxygen in theatmosphere inside the ISS, which is similar to thaton Earth. Once in orbit, the 20 kg of oxygencarried up by Jules Verne ATV, is manuallyinjected by the crew into the ISS atmosphere.
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From a distance of around 30 km from the ISS theATV will use relative GPS in order to close in on theISS up to a distance of 249 m. Hereafter the ATVwill use a brand new European-built technology
called a videometer, together with additional datafrom telegoniometers, to successfully rendezvousand dock with Russian Zvezda Service Module ofthe International Space Station.
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Engineers monitor ATV rendezvous testing at Europe’s largest
ship hull test facility, 100 km west of Paris in 2006. (Image: ESA)
The Jules Verne videometer is designed andmanufactured by Sodern, a subsidiary of EADS, inLimeil-Brévannes, a Paris suburb. All ATVspacecraft will have two identical videometers,installed 20 cm apart on the front of the ATV. Bothare active during rendezvous with one acting as aback-up.
Like the two videometers, two telegoniometers(one back-up), located on the ATV front cone,emit laser pulses (at a different wavelength to thevideometers) towards the retroflectors on the ISS.The travel time of the pulses, which are reflectedback, gives the distance between the twospacecraft. The direction from the ATV to the ISS
is given by the orientation of the telegoniometers’two built-in mirrors, which rotate to aim the lasertowards the retroreflectors.
The distance and direction information from thetelegoniometer can be compared to that obtainedvia image processing using the videometer.However, only the videometer can compute theorientation of the ISS. Activated at the same
250 m distance from the ISS, the telegoniometer’sradar-like pulses provide 10 000 hits per second,whereas the camera-like videometer illuminatesits objective from once per second to 10 times persecond as it approaches its target.
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of the Ariane 5 has been designed to place theATV into a 260 km circular low Earth orbit inclinedat 51.6˚. From this orbit the ATV will use its ownpropulsion system to automatically reach and dock
with the International Space Station (ISS).
The Ariane 5 ES ATV is 53 m in height, has adiameter of up to 5.4 m and a mass of 760 tonnesat lift off. It is composed of the same lowersections as an Ariane 5 ECA using the sameboosters and the same cryogenic main stageequipped with the improved Vulcain 2 engine. Theupper composite is composed of a re-ignitableStorable Propellant Stage and a new reinforcedvehicle equipment bay as it will be placing morethan twice the payload mass of any previousAriane 5 launch into orbit.
BoostersThe Ariane 5 solid propellant boosters are thelargest solid rocket boosters ever produced inEurope. Weighing 37 tonnes each when empty,they are 31 m high and 3 m in diameter. Each
b i f l i l i h
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To allow continuous coordination with the othercontrol centres and to remain in contact with theATV during the mission, using the NASA Trackingand Data Relay Satellite System as well as ESA‘sArtemis relay satellite, the ATV Control Centre willrely on the European ISS ground communicationnetwork, which is controlled from the Columbus
Control Centre located at DLR, inOberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
The Columbus Control Centre. (Image: DLR)
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This document has been compiled, produced andwritten by the Coordination Office of the EuropeanSpace Agency’s Directorate of HumanSpaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration
Programmes in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. Ithas been compiled from internal ESA sourceswith additional images and information kindlysupplied by the following organisations:
EADS Astrium
French Space Agency (CNES)
National Aeronautics andSpace Administration (NASA)
Thales Alenia Space
Contacts
European Space Agency (ESA)Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravityand Exploration ProgrammesESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, PO Box 299
2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands.Tel: +31 (0) 71 565 6799Fax: +31 (0) 71 565 5441www.esa.int/spaceflightwww.esa.int/atvwww.esa.int/columbus
ESA Media RelationsESA Head Office, Paris, France.Tel. + 33 1 5369 7155Fax. + 33 1 5369 [email protected]
EADS Astriumhttp://www.astrium.eads.net/
Utilisation Relevant Data A t t d T f V hi l (ATV)
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www.spaceflight.esa.int/users I l l u s t r a t i o n s : E S A / D .
D u c r o s
Utilisation Relevant Data
Launch site: Kourou, French Guiana.
First flight: Spring 2008
Flight rate: Mean: 1 ATV/18 months
OnOrbitConfiguration
Deployed solar arrays, with a total span of 22.3 m, that provide electrical power torechargeable batteries for eclipse periods.Automated flight towards the InternationalSpace Station.
FlightHardware
Propulsion and re-boost systemAvionics equipmentGuidance navigation and control systemCommunications systemPower generation and storage systemThermal control systemRussian docking and refueling system
LaunchConfiguration
Payload 8 racks with 2 x 0.314 m3 and 2 x 0.414 m3
envelope: each 1.146 m3 in front of 4 of these 8 racks
Cargo mass: Dry cargo: 1,500 - 5,500 kg
Water: 0 - 840 kg
Gas (Nitrogen, Oxygen, air, 2 gases/flight): 0 -
100 kg
ISS Refueling propellant: 0 - 860 kg (306 kg
of fuel, 554 kg of oxidizer)
ISS re-boost and attitude control propellant: 0 -
4,700kg
Total cargo upload capacity: 7,667 kg
Launch vehicle: Ariane 5 (300 x 300 km, 51.6° transfer orbit
ATV will be launched with its solar panels
folded to the body of the spacecraft. Electrical
power will be supplied by non rechargeable
batteries.
European servicing and logistics vehicle
PROJECT:
TITLE: AutomatedTransfer Vehicle
DOCUMENT N°:
International
Space Station
ERASMUS User Centre and Communication Office - Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Programmes
Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)
The Automated Transfer Vehicle is an unmanned automatic vehicle which is put in orbit by the
European Ariane 5 launcher. It provides the International Space Station with: pressurized cargo,
water, air, nitrogen, oxygen and attitude control propellant. It also removes waste from the station and
re-boosts it to a higher altitude to compensate for the atmospheric drag.
Multi-Layer
Insulation blanket
Russian
docking
and refueling
system
2 x visual targets
for crew monitoring
S-Band Antenna
Boom
GPS antennas
for positioning
TDRS antennas
for communication
2 x star
trackers
Ranging
cues
4 x optical
rendez-vous sensors
Payload
racks
Integrated Cargo Carrier
(ICC)
Propulsion Module (PM)
Spacecraft
subassembly
Stand-off Water and gas tank
EUC-ESA-FSH-003
REV.
1.2
Primary
structure
Micrometeoroid and
orbital debris
protection system
Multi-Layer
Insulation
blanket
Radio frequency link with
Space Station
for proximity operations
Attitude control and braking
thrusters (28 x 220 N)
Main engine
(4 x 490 N)
4 x solar arrays
for generation of
electricity
Specifications
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Total cargo upload capacity: 7,500 kgMass at launch (max): 20,750 kgWaste download capacity: 6,300 kg
(420 km altitude, 51.6° inclination)
Propulsion
Main propulsion system: 4 x 490 N thrusters (Pressurizedliquid bi-propellant system)
Attitude control system: 28 x 220 N thrusters (Pressurizedliquid bi-propellant system)Propellant: Monomethyl hydrazine fuel and
Nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer Pressurization: Helium pressurant at 31 MPa
CommunicationsInfrastructure
To ground: S-band via TDRS satelliteATV to ISS: S-band antenna via Proximity linkNavigation: GPS
Thermal/EnvironmentalControl
Thermal Control: Multi Layer Insulation material,active thermal control usingVariable & Constant ConductiveHeat Pipes and paints
ECLSS: Fire detection, air circulation, air temperature monitoring
ElectricalPower
Ascent to ISS and de-orbit: 4 Solar panel wings of 4 panels
each and 40 Ah rechargeable
batteriesNumber of arrays: 4Number of panels/array: 4Generated power: 3,800 W after 6 months in orbitRequired power: < 400 W Dormant mode,supplied by ISS: < 900 W Active mode