PARIS -- The
launch of Europe's
unmanned cargo vehicle to the International Space Station
aboard an Ariane 5
rocket has slipped to November, with Europe's shuttle-launched Columbus crew
laboratory shifting to December, under the tentative station schedule being
revised following the U.S. space shuttle's hail damage-related
delay.
The
reshuffling of the station's traffic schedule caused by the shuttle's delay is
only one of the reasons Europe's Automated
Transfer Vehicle (ATV) [image], to carry thousands of kilograms of
food, water and fuel to the station, will not make its late-summer launch date,
according to Europe's space station director, Daniel Sacotte.
The ATV's
previous schedule, calling for a launch
between July and September, was going to be difficult to maintain
regardless of the shuttle schedule as the European Space Agency struggled to
complete integration of Russian and European components on the vehicle and
resolve outstanding performance issues.
"I
certainly am not going to say I am happy with a delay," Sacotte said in an
March 16 interview. "But in this case, a July-September launch was going to
be difficult for us. Now we have more than enough breathing room."
The ATV is
designed to perform many of the functions of a manned vehicle, including the
ability to approach the station, then stop and back off if necessary before a
final docking. Its arrival must coincide with the availability of a docking
port, and even with the Sun's position
relative to the station so that ATV's laser-guided rendezvous sensors are not
confused by backlighting of the station on approach.
ESA
officials want ATV to be launched before the Columbus lab to avoid possible
cash payments to NASA for Columbus [image]
overhead charges. ATV is considered as part of Europe's payment in kind for
station services paid by NASA.
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