ESA Tests ATV Flight Software

 [10-01-07 – Satellite Today]  The flight software for the  European Space Agency’s (ESA) Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is compatible with the rest of the International Space Station’s flight software, ESA announced Sept. 28.

The software for the ATV, which will be used to resupply the Space Station, was tested by engineers from NASA, ESA, Astrium, RSC-Energia and Boeing over three weeks at the NASA Software Verification Facility in Houston. This ISS-level stage test, dubbed a five-box test, is a new step where the software is integrated into the whole ISS software ground testbed.

"This test demonstrated the integrated flight software functionality across the U.S. segment, the Russian segment and the ESA ATV vehicle for the timeframe in which the ATV is docked to the [Space Station],” Susan Creasy, the Space Station avionics and software officer manager for NASA, said in a statement.

The first launch of the Jules Verne ATV is scheduled for early 2008 aboard an Ariane 5.