By Bernama
Kuala Lumpur : Arianespace, the launcher of Malaysia’s Measat-I & -II, successfully launched the European Space Agencys first ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle), dubbed Jules Verne ATV to the international space station on Sunday, March 9.
In a statement today, Arianespace said the mission marked Arianespaces first mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Guiana Space Center from where the mission was launched has now joined the select club of launch sites serving the ISS, along with Baikonur and the Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral).
The launch also comes just a few weeks after the docking of the Columbus space laboratory to the space station.
The Jules Verne ATV mission was carried out by an Ariane 5 ES launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on Sunday, March 9, at 1:03 am local time in Kourou (Sunday, March 10, at 12:03 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur).