SPACE.com -- Station Supply Vehicle Deal Signed


	Station Supply Vehicle Deal Signed By Kenneth Silber Staff Writer posted: 12:58 pm ET 14 July 1999

Station Supply Vehicle Deal Signed

Two European companies have signed a contract to develop the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), an unmanned spacecraft that will carry cargo to and from the International Space Station.

Munich-based Daimler Chrysler Aerospace and the French company Aerospatiale Matra Lanceurs announced the deal in early July. The first ATV mission to the space station is scheduled for June 2003.

The ATV is Europe's most important contribution to the space station project. The unmanned vehicle will carry supplies from Earth to the station and will handle waste disposal from the station.

The supply vehicle will be delivered into orbit by the European Ariane 5 launcher and will use its own propulsion system to dock at a Russian node of the space station. The ATV will be able to transport about 7 tons of cargo.

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