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UNITING FORCES FOR A STRONGER ASTRIUM SERVICES 
News
ATV-4 ‘Albert Einstein’
On its way to the ISS
The ‘Albert Einstein’ space freighter is now making its way to the International Space Station
On 5 June 2013 a specially adapted Ariane 5 rocket placed the 20.2 tonnes of the ATV-4 ‘Albert Einstein’ into orbit
The ATV ‘Albert Einstein’, designed and built by Astrium, is the fourth unmanned European transport spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS). In addition to transporting fuel, gas, general supplies and scientific equipment to the ISS, the ATV will also assist in maintaining the Space Station’s attitude control after docking.
This is the 55th consecutive successful launch of Ariane 5, with a new payload record of 20.2 tonnes
The ATV-4 is the heaviest payload that Ariane has ever carried into orbit.
Orbit injection of the ATV needs a specially adapted version of the Ariane 5 launcher developed and produced by Astrium. This Ariane 5 ES has a reignitable EPS upper stage, a strengthened VEB, and a specifically redeveloped flight programme. This re-ignition capability, required to inject the ATV into an orbit from which it can reach the ISS, was first demonstrated in flight in 2007. The re-ignitable upper stage functioned flawlessly, and positioned the ATV on the target flight path.
But this is just the start of the ATV mission …
It will soon be embarking on the complicated phase when it will rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) and perform a docking manoeuvre. At that point, the ATV will become a fully integrated, inhabited module of the ISS.
http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/news2/atv-4-albert-einstein.html
Five years on Mars, ten Earth years
Mars Express
Ten years ago, in June 2003, the first European mission to Mars, the Astrium-primed Mars Express, was launched. The spacecraft arrived at its destination orbit around Mars nearly seven months later after a 400 million kilometre journey through space. That means that, since one Martian year lasts for 687 Earth days, Mars Express has been in operation around our neighbouring planet for five Martian years.
The mission has returned an abundance of data and been extended well beyond its initially-planned lifetime. A significant 40% of this data comes from the probe’s high resolution stereo camera (HRSC) designed and built by Astrium. The camera has so far recorded around 90% of the planet’s surface, and two thirds of these images have a particularly high resolution of just a few metres per pixel.
This wealth of detail is allowing scientists to draw conclusions about how each of the various landscapes was formed, whether by volcanic activity, the impact of meteorites, wind – or even water. Indeed traces have been left of water having existed in both liquid and frozen form on the planet.
Images taken by the Mars Express spacecraft’s High-Resolution Stereo Camera
The double interconnected impact craters Sigli and Shambe, the basins of which are criss-crossed by extensive fracturing. This region is of great interest to scientists since it shows significant signs of ancient lakes and rivers.
(© ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))
Part of the northern polar region of Mars during the summer solstice. The solstice is the longest day and the beginning of the summer for the planet’s northern hemisphere. All the carbon dioxide ice has gone, leaving just a bright cap of water ice (shown as bright white areas in this picture).
(© ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))
Elongated impact crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. Located just south of the Huygens basin, the crater could have been carved out by a train of projectiles striking the planet at a shallow angle. The depression is about 78 km in length, opens from just under 10 km wide at one end to 25 km wide at the other, and reaches a depth of 2 km.
(© ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))
Kasei Valles and Sacra Fossae: spectacular views of the chaotic terrain in the area. The image has a ground resolution of about 21 m/pixel and covers 225 x 95 km or 21,375 km2, an area roughly half the size of the Netherlands.
(© ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))
This image sheds new light on Mars’ appearance. Data and images from the spacecraft suggest that several ‘light toned deposits’, some of the least understood features on Mars, were formed when large amounts of groundwater burst on to the surface. Scientists propose that groundwater had a greater role in shaping the martian surface than previously believed, and may have sheltered primitive life forms as the planet started drying up.
(© ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))
http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/news2/ten-years-of-astrium-s-mars-express-spacecraft.html
Astrium’s SES-6 satellite launched
State-of-the-art broadcast satellite
SES-6 heads skyward
The SES-6 communications satellite, designed and manufactured by Astrium for satellite operator SES, has begun its journey into space. It was launched today on a Proton rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, at 10:18 (BST).
SES-6 will enable delivery of next generation broadcast services including HD video distribution and mobile services, covering North and Latin America, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean.
Based on the highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform, SES-6 is equipped with 43 C-band and 48 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz equivalent).
SES-6 is the sixth Eurostar satellite in the SES fleet, following the successful launch of ASTRA 2F in September 2012. Three more Eurostar E3000 satellites for SES are currently in final integration and test in Astrium facilities.
http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/news2/astrium-built-ses-6-broadcast-satellite-successfully-launched.html
SES-6 ready for launch
Latest state-of-the-art broadcast satellite SES-6 is the sixth Eurostar spacecraft designed and manufactured by Astrium for operator SES
The newest communications satellite built by Astrium for SES is to be launched aboard a Proton rocket on 3 June from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Once in geostationary orbit and upon completion of in-orbit tests, SES-6 will be positioned at 40.5°W. It will enable the delivery of next generation broadcast services including HD video distribution and mobile services, covering North and Latin America, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean.
Based on the highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform, SES-6 is equipped with 43 C-band and 48 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz equivalent). SES-6 will have a launch mass of 6,100 kg, a wingspan of 40 m once its solar arrays are deployed in orbit, and a spacecraft power of 13 kW at the end of its 15-year design lifetime. Launch and Early Orbit Phase operations will be conducted from the Astrium spacecraft control centre in Toulouse.
SES-6 will be the sixth Eurostar satellite in the SES fleet, following the successful launch of ASTRA 2F in September 2012. Three more Eurostar E3000 satellites for SES are currently in final integration and tests in Astrium facilities.
http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/news2/state-of-the-art-broadcast-satellite.html
ATV-4 ‘Albert Einstein’ preparing for launch
ISS–Earth lifeline
The ATV ‘Albert Einstein’, designed and built by Astrium, is the fourth unmanned European transport spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS).
ATV-4 is due to be launched on 5 June by a specially adapted Ariane 5 from the European Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana. Astrium is responsible for developing and building the ATV as industrial prime contractor to the European Space Agency (ESA).
The ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) ferries propellants, food, water and equipment to the ISS. Once docked, it uses its own engines to correct the station’s orbit, compensating for a regular loss of altitude due to drag and contributes to collision and debris avoidance. At the end of its mission it is filled with waste, de-docked and burns up as it heads back into the Earth’s atmosphere.
With a total weight of nearly 20.2 tonnes, ATV-4 ‘Albert Einstein’ is the heaviest payload ever placed into orbit by an Ariane launcher. The ATV is also the smartest multipurpose spacecraft ever designed and built in Europe, with the mission to dock automatically to the International Space Station (ISS) at 28,000 km/h with a precision of less than 10 centimetres.
Astrium is also prime contractor for the Ariane 5 launcher, the reliable European workhorse designed and built for a large variety of heavy lift missions.