Second ATV Launch Date Delayed to 2011

Due to a hectic rocket launch schedule around the world, the European Space Agency will not be able to launch its second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) until 2011.

For the rest of 2010, the skies will be very crowded, and numerous launches will take place around the world. These flights prohibit the ATV-2 spacecraft, now called Johannes Kepler, from launching at its previously established date.

Originally, the mission was supposed to take place this December, but now ESA officials say that the launch will take place in February 2011 at the earliest, most likely around the same time the space shuttle Endeavor will conduct its final flight.

Officials at the space agency said a couple of days ago that this is a classic case of scheduling conflict between commercial and government customers using the same delivery system.

The new delay comes at a very bad time, as ESA will now have to renegotiate with NASA, and with representatives from all of the 18 countries making it up, on a new scheduled for launch.

Discussions are bound to be difficult, considering that mission controllers for the International Space Station are now exactly thrilled of accommodating both Endeavor and Johannes Kepler at the same time.

February 2011 is a time when the ISS' orbit is perfectly aligned for an ATV launch, but is also when Endeavor needs to launch, and NASA, as they say, reserved this launch window first.

Having to provide power for two spacecrafts may be too much for the orbital laboratory, and so its managers view this situation as less than ideal. It remains to be seen what result the upcoming discussions will generate.

“We will sit down with our partners as we have done for more than 10 years now and we will find a solution,” says Jean-Jacques Dordain, who is the director-general at ESA>

“These problems are resolved through compromise and negotiations,” he goes on to say. He added in a September 21 interview that he is hopeful a solution to appease both parties will be reached.

The official also spoke about the relationship that ESA has with Arianespace, the French company that constructs the Ariane 5 delivery systems the space agency uses for the ATVs.

“Yes, our convention with Arianespace does make reference to a 'preference' for government launches. But that does not mean I can ask Arianespace to violate commercial contractual obligations,” Dordain reveals, quoted by Space. 

“I can't tell Arianespace to never mind its commercial customers, any more than I can tell our space station partners to never mind the imperatives of space station traffic management,” he goes on to say.

But launching the ATV in early 2011 is imperative for two reasons – it delivers much-needed supplies to the orbital lab, and its engines are needed for orbital corrections.

The maneuvers have to be conducted between February and April so that the ISS remains on a correct flightpath. NASA mission controllers therefore need to find a way of fitting ATV-2 into the schedule.