A European supply vessel carrying over 5 tons of cargo successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday.
According to a NASA news release, the European supply vehicle established communication with the ISS at 1000 GMT Thursday and the docking was ordered at 1440 GMT.
The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) was built by a consortium led by the space unit of aerospace group EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space company). It carries three times the cargo of Russia's Progress vehicle and will play a key role in supplying the ISS.
The docking with the ISS was supervised by control stations in France, the United States and Russia.
The ATV will remain docked at the space station for six months. During the period, astronauts will remove its cargo and replace it with rubbish from the station.
Dubbed 'Jules Verne' after the visionary 19th century French science fiction writer, the ATV program is expected to further European space exploration with an investment of 2 billion U.S. dollars so far.
The ATV was launched aboard an Ariane-5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America on March 9.
Source: Xinhua
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