Wolfgang Paetsch, head of EADS Astrium's ATV programme

Late last month, the drama, fire and thunder of a heavy rocket launch returned to the European Space Agency’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, as an Ariane 5 launcher thrust its most massive cargo, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Johannes Kepler, skywards on the start of its four-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Built by EADS Astrium, the ATV is an unmanned freighter, designed to carry supplies and equipment up to the ISS. Johannes Kepler, named after the 17th-century German mathematician and astronomer, is the second of the projected five-strong ATV fleet; its predecessor, Jules Verne, travelled to the ISS in 2008.

During the final phases of the run-up to launch, EADS’ director of production and development, Wolfgang Paetsch, spoke to The Engineer about Johannes Kepler, its mission and the future of the ATV.

’You can regard Jules Verne as the prototype ATV and Johannes Kepler, ATV2, as the first production model,’ Paetsch said. This led to a very different mission profile for the two modules: Verne’s flight incorporated a series of pre-docking tests and checks, which Kepler, as the first ’routine’ flight, will not need to undergo.