… and meanwhile, ATV-3 is well underway

ATV-3's Equipped Avionics Bay (EAB) was delivered from Toulouse, France, to Bremen, German, via 'Beluga' Airbus.

The three main parts of ATV-3 arrived at the premises of EADS Astrium in Bremen, Germany, in December. The vehicle is now waiting to be assembled at the end of January.

The newest ATV, named after a leading figure in Italian space science last century, will be the first to be processed and launched within the target cadence of one ATV per year.

While the majority of ESA is concentrating on the launch of ATV 2 on 15 February 2011, we are working hard preparing ATV 3 Edoardo Amaldi.

ATV-3 will be shipped to the launch site, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, in September for dispatch to the ISS in February 2012.

Read the full story in the ESA web site.