An uncrewed Ariane rocket successfully put a cargo vessel into orbit on Sunday in Europe's first mission to carry supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).
The modified Ariane-5 launcher lifted off at 0403 GMT from Europe's spaceport in Kourou on the northeast coast of South America carrying a 20-tonne cargo module on top.
The vessel, dubbed "Jules Verne" in honour of the visionary 19th century French science fiction writer, is the first Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) that Europe has committed to the ISS programme.
Constructed by an industrial consortium led by EADS Astrium, a division of European industrial giant EADS, the ATV is designed to deliver fuel, food, clothing and oxygen to the ISS crew as well as spare parts for Europe's Columbus laboratory. Columbus was delivered to the ISS in February aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.
The ATV will remain docked to the space station for six months as astronauts remove its cargo and fill it with garbage from the station. It will then be sent back towards earth, burning up on re-entry. Any remaining debris will be targeted to a remote area of the Pacific Ocean.
The ATV will dock with the ISS without human intervention.
"This is a challenge because the ATV must rendezvous with the space station and the two vehicles will be travelling at 28,000 kilometres an hour," said European Space Agency astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy. "The link-up must be made with extreme precision ... We must get this [technology] absolutely right if we are to go further to the moon or Mars."
The ATV has three times the cargo capacity of Russia's Progress vehicle and is being developed by ESA as part of a barter arrangement with NASA.
Instead of paying cash for its share of the station's common operating costs and also to secure additional astronaut access, ESA is providing the ATV and other components.
ESA officials said they had invested nearly $2 billion so far in the ATV programme.
Four more ATVs have been planned for the space station. NASA is discussing the purchase of additional ATVs with ESA as its space shuttle fleet is due to be retired in 2010. This will leave a gap in US access to the station until the US is able to operate a new generation of space vehicles.
"I hope that the ATVs will be able to supply the station when the shuttle will no longer be in service," NASA administrator Michael Griffin said on a video link to Kourou. "The more astronauts aboard the station, the more supplies it will need."
The space station, which is about 60% complete, is a $100 billion project by 15 nations. In 2009, the station's crew size is expected to double from three to six members.
By Vanessa
Mon Mar 10 02:20:58 GMT 2008
100 billion, huh? I'm sorry there are people starving. But I'll make a deal with human lives. If we put them up in space will they finally get fed?By Mark
Mon Mar 10 05:54:39 GMT 2008
That is a very blinkered view , would you stop all research and money spent on developing new technolgies? surely that would mean all the problems we are encountering as a race would just get worse and we would never progress now least this money could lead to future generations having a better lifeBy Frustrated
Mon Mar 10 09:42:17 GMT 2008
Why do people always direct this (non) argument at the space industry?! 100 Billion is a TRIVIAL sum relative to global spending on WEAPONS! Perhaps the funds used for DESTRUCTIVE technology should be the target of this kind of reasoning.By Llaci
Mon Mar 10 11:20:04 GMT 2008
Why not spend to buy condoms and send them to the starving regions? Then on the long term they would get less, the food would be enough for them and they could learn and get advanced?By Zeroen
Mon Mar 10 20:29:56 GMT 2008
First we would have to stamp out conservative religion, since they are the ones telling people to breed like rabits.By Psychron
Mon Mar 10 11:52:47 GMT 2008
I've got a great idea! Instead of crying about the starving people, why not use them to test our brand new weapons? Each "target" would reduce the starving population, then we could package the "tested" starving person at the grocery store and they could be made into roasts, or stews, or some other form of sustinance for the starving population. Problem solved. Feed the starving to the starving, eventually, they won't be hungry anymore, and imagine the new infrastructure that would give these starving people jobs, which means more money, and therefore, more food in their mouths! I should run for office.By Andrew
Mon Mar 10 14:25:33 GMT 2008
How about the 1.5trillion dollars spent each year worldwide on defence and arms? i guess you have no problem with that, but 0.1 trillion dollars in a one off expenditure with the aims of furthering human knowledge and exploration? psh what a waste!By Cybermole
Mon Mar 10 08:54:00 GMT 2008
Would 100 billion buy many nuclear power plants? nuclear power = energy for desalination = water for irrigation in arid climates + carbon sinks.By Polemos
Mon Mar 10 09:29:00 GMT 2008
"At present, of the current uranium demand of 67 kt/yr only 42 kt/yr are supplied by new production, the rest of about 25 kt/yr is drawn from stockpiles which were accumulated before 1980. Since these stocks will be exhausted within the next 10 years, uranium production capacity must increase by at least some 50% in order to match future demand of current capacity.By Anthony Moore (tony)
Tue Apr 01 15:05:11 BST 2008
It's suprising that America will be without dependable access to space by 2010. And, with only 60% of ISS complete will they anticipate completion before retirement of the space shuttle's? And, how long will the next generation of shuttle's to be in service? We have to take the next big step in human history and open up space, like the pioneers who went out west for a new life. Space is our future, space is our hope for survivial of our species.All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
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