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[b]Ariane 5 sets ATV-2 [i]Johannes Kepler[/i] into motion[/b] The second of the European Space Agency's unmanned cargo craft for the International Space Station, the Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 [i]Johannes Kepler[/i] launched on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 3:50:55 p.m. CST (2150 GMT) from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.
[b]Liftoff of Ariane 5 with ATV Johannes Kepler[/b] Arianespace's initial mission in 2011 is now underway following the liftoff of an Ariane 5 ES version, which is carrying the first operational Automated Transfer Vehicle - ATV Johannes Kepler - for servicing of the International Space Station. The Ariane 5's flight is to last just over one hour, and will include two burns of the launcher's EPS storable propellant upper stage - separated by a 45-minute ballistic coast phase. Once the cargo resupply spacecraft is released into a 260-kilometer orbit, the Ariane 5's EPS upper stage will be reignited a third time to de-orbit this upper component of the launcher, sending it towards a splashdown in a deserted area of the South Pacific. Total payload lift performance for tonight's mission is 20,050 kg., which includes 19,700 kg. for the ATV, plus associated integration hardware - making it the heaviest payload ever for Ariane 5. Tonight's mission from the Spaceport in French Guiana also marks the milestone 200th flight of Europe's launcher family since the first liftoff of an Ariane 1 version in December 1979. It follows the qualification flight of ATV Jules Verne, the initial cargo resupply spacecraft for Europe that was launched by an Ariane 5 in March 2008.
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