Lessons learnt of to date flown ATV missions

Paper number

IAC-12,D2,3,10,x14916

Author

Mr. Felipe Dengra, Astrium GmbH, Germany

Year

2012

Abstract

The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is an unmanned transport vehicle designed to provide support services to the International Space Station (ISS) during approximately six months following its docking to the Russian Service Module {\it Zvezda}. The main mission objectives are:

\begin{itemize}\item Propulsive support to the ISS (re-boost, attitude control, Control Moment Gyro de-saturation and debris avoidance)\end{itemize}

\begin{itemize}\item ISS refuelling\end{itemize}

\begin{itemize}\item Delivery of cargo, water and gas\end{itemize}

\begin{itemize}\item Retrieval of wastes\end{itemize}

Due to the complex nature of the mission, the ATV project does encompass many different challenges like:

\begin{itemize}\item The involvement of many partners during the design phases and the subsequent production ones\end{itemize}

\begin{itemize}\item The design complexity of the vehicle itself: in order to successfully accomplish the mission, the vehicle is tolerant to 1 (one) failure and is in safe mode if 2 (two) failures occur\end{itemize}

\begin{itemize}\item A high variety of phases during its flight (LEOP, phasing, rendezvous, attached phase and re-entry)\end{itemize}

\begin{itemize}\item Human presence during attached phase: safety conditions should be taken into account for the pressurized module\end{itemize}


The final paper will provide a description of the different characteristics and particularities of the three first ATV missions. Also, the main difficulties that arose during the flights of ATV-1 and ATV-2 will be presented, as well as which strategies were undertaken to resolve them (either during flight operations or as design improvements for the next flight). The presentation will also include available relevant information on the ATV-3 mission which could also be of interest for the completeness on the subject.

Abstract document

IAC-12,D2,3,10,x14916.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

(absent)