On 23 March 2012, Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Edoardo Amaldi will be launched from Kourou to resupply the International Space Station with a record amount of cargo. The Amaldi mission, the third of its kind in ESA’s ATV programme, will carry over 6 tonnes of propellants and dry cargo. Most of this cargo was loaded last November, but 55 bags including important NASA equipment were loaded in February. This late loading procedure increases the flexibility of the space freighter.