An extraordinary duo took to the skies to perform an incredible task. A specially designed Ariane 5 rocket lofted the Automated Transfer Vehicle  ‘Georges Lemaître’, a massive 20-ton spacecraft carrying over six tons of vital supplies up to the crew of the International Space Station .

The ATV, designed and built by ArianeGroup’s forerunner company for the European Space Agency, was a technological marvel, capable of executing a completely autonomous docking with an orbiting space station.

Georges Lemaître was the last of five ATVs which served the ISS between 2008 and 2014, all launched by the dedicated version of Ariane 5 adapted to these exceptional passengers with a re-ignitable upper stage to negotiate the complex trajectory maneuvers necessary to get them on their way.

The success of the ATV mission was such that it is now heading for a new destination. NASA was so impressed with its prowess that it is involving the same technologies in its ambitious mission to take humans back to the moon – and possibly even further.

The Orion vehicle for manned space exploration missions, part of NASA’s Artemis mission, is powered by a service module based on ATV design and experience.

This is the first time that NASA is using a European system to power and supply a spacecraft for manned missions, and is testimony to the outstanding technologies and engineering expertise demonstrated by the ATV and the people who created it.

Hundreds of ArianeGroup experts are currently working on the European Service Module (ESM) for Orion. For more on our involvement, stay tuned!