Arianesapce will conduct its 200th launch Tuesday, when Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle ( ATV-2) Johannes Kepler will be launched by an Ariane 5 ES heavy- lift carrier rocket to take supply to the International Space Station (ISS), the European launching space announced on Sunday.
Arianespace's first mission of 2011 will leave a significant footprint in European aeronautics history as it is also the first operational ATV after the testing ATV-1 "Jules Verne" fulfilled its mission in 2008.
Ten meters high with a diameter of 4.5 meters, "Johannes Kepler, " named after a famous German astronomer, will weigh over 20 tonnes at launch from Kourou in French Guiana.
As the heaviest payload ever lifted by Ariane launchers, the ATV-2 is due to carry more than 7 metric tonnes of fuels and dry cargo, including 4.5 tons of propellant to be used in the ISS's attitude control system and altitude re-boost operations, nearly 1. 6 tons of dry cargo and 100 kilograms of oxygen to be used aboard the station.
With investment of billions of euros, the European Space Agency plans to launch five ATVs by 2015. ATV-3, named after famous Italian physicist and spaceflight pioneer Edoardo Amaldi, was scheduled to be launched to ISS in late 2011 or early 2012.