European Space Agency Mission Director Kris Capelle has just sent a mail to confirm: the International Space Station International Management Team (IMMT) has given the GO for ATV-4 launch & docking! Lift-off Wednesday, 5 June, at 23:52 CEST. Albert's going to Station!
The Albert Einstein ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 004 (ATV-004), is a European unmanned cargoresupply spacecraft, named after the German-born physicist Albert Einstein. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in June 2013, on a mission to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo. It is the fourth and penultimate ATV to be built, following the Edoardo Amaldi, which was launched in March 2012. Albert Einstein's components were constructed in Turin, Italy, and Bremen, Germany, and underwent final assembly and testing in Bremen in 2012.
Albert Einstein will be launched on an Ariane 5ES rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. At the time of its launch, Albert Einstein wil be the heaviest spacecraft ever lifted into orbit by an Ariane rocket, with a total mass of 20,235 kilograms (44,610 lb).