Ariane 5 ES | Johannes Kepler ATV (ATV-002)
Launch Successful
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Instantaneous launch window.
Launch Window
Feb. 16, 2011, 9:51 p.m. - Feb. 16, 2011, 9:51 p.m.
Instantaneous launch window.
Feb. 16, 2011, 9:51 p.m. - Feb. 16, 2011, 9:51 p.m.
ATV-2 is the Automated Transfer Vehicle operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) to resupply the international space station (ISS) with propellant, water, air and dry cargo. After 8 days in orbit it docked to the ISS on 24th February 2011.
The Ariane 5 ES (Evolution Storable) has an estimated LEO launch capacity of 21,000 kg (46,000 lb). It includes all the performance improvements of Ariane 5 ECA core and boosters but replaces the ESC-A second stage with the restartable EPS used on Ariane 5 GS variants. It was used to launch the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) into a 260 km circular low Earth orbit inclined at 51.6° and has been used 3 times to launch 4 Galileo navigation satellites at a time directly into their operational orbit. The Ariane 5 ES flew 8 times from 2008 to 2018 with no failures.
The Johannes Kepler ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 002 (ATV-002), was an unmanned cargo spacecraft built to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). It was launched on 16 February 2011 by the European Space Agency (ESA). Johannes Kepler carried propellant, air and dry cargo weighing over 7,000 kilograms, and had a total mass of over 20,000 kilograms, making it, at the time, the heaviest payload launched by the ESA. The spacecraft was named after the 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler.
Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) DetailsArianeGroup (formerly Airbus Safran Launchers) is an aerospace company based in France. A joint venture between Airbus and Safran, the company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux. It consists of three core arms: aerospace, defence and security.
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