Ariane 5 climbs through a low cloud deck as it ascends from French Guiana on the mission to deploy Europe’s no. 3 Automated Transfer Vehicle. GTD has a double-celebration tonight: ATV’ and Ariane5 are both powered by GTD’s software,. And fortunately, here again, all the software and hardware under GTD’s responsibility has been 100% successful. Lifting off from the Spaceport in French Guiana, an Ariane 5 ES version carried the heaviest payload ever for Arianespace’s workhorse launcher – deploying the ATV into a 260-km. low Earth orbit. The Ariane 5’s lift performance for this early morning flight was over 20,000 kg, including the 19,700-kg.-plus mass of the ATV. Arianespace Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall congratulated the various teams in Europe that contributed to the latest mission success, including the European Space Agency and those agencies in participating ATV program countries, along with the resupply spacecraft’s industrial team and the companies that produce Ariane 5. “This is a success as well for the Guiana Space Center, which reconfirms its role in the small ‘club’ that supports the International Space Station’s servicing – along with the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Cape Canaveral, and Tanegashima,” Le Gall added in post-launch comments from the Spaceport. “It is clear that the quality of installations here in French Guiana, and the quality of the welcoming spirit provided for our international customers, also count.” Ariane 5 contributed to its own operational track record with today’s mission, marking the launcher’s 47th consecutive success on its 61st flight overall. The ATV orbited by Ariane 5 is named after Italian physicist and spaceflight pioneer Edoardo Amaldi, and carries 6.6 metric tons of cargo for the International Space Station – including food, clothing, experiments, tools and spare parts, as well as propellant for the multi-national crewed orbital facility. In addition to serving as a resupply spacecraft, the ATV also will function as a “tug” while docked to the crewed orbital facility.
