ATV: Manoevre & Rendezvous

It's not "All Terrain Vehicle". I work with guys, actually subconctract under guys, who are experts in GN&C (guidance, navigation and control). Here is some news about the ATV:

Jules Verne, the first of the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV), a new series of autonomous spaceships designed to re-supply and re-boost the International Space Station (ISS), was successfully launched into low Earth orbit by an Ariane 5 vehicle this morning (3/8/08).

During the coming weeks, it will manoeuvre in order to rendezvous and eventually dock with the ISS to deliver cargo, propellant, water and oxygen to the orbital outpost.

The ATV is also the very first spacecraft in the world designed to conduct automated docking in full compliance with the very tight safety constraints imposed by human spaceflight operations. It features high accuracy navigation systems and a flight software far more complex than that used on Ariane 5.

About half of the payload onboard Jules Verne ATV is re-boost propellant, which will be used by its own propulsion system for periodic manoeuvres to increase the altitude of the ISS in order to compensate its natural decay caused by atmospheric drag.

Upon leaving, after four months spent docked to the ISS, Jules Verne ATV will carry away waste from the Station. It will then be de-orbited over the Southern Pacific Ocean and burn up in the atmosphere in a fully controlled manner.