It effectively was a larger European counterpart to the Russian Progress cargo spacecraft for carrying upmass to a single destination—the International Space Station (ISS)—but with three times the capacity.

The five ATVs were named after important European figures in science and engineering: Jules Verne, Johannes Kepler, Edoardo Amaldi, Albert Einstein, and Georges Lemaître.

Various further developments, including crewed versions of the ATV as well as opportunities to reuse sections or elements of its technology, were studied by both the ESA and Airbus Defence and Space, the principal manufacturer of the vehicle.

[11] In 2012, ESA member states decided that the ATV design might be adapted to serve as the service module of the NASA Orion spacecraft.

[12] NASA’s Artemis I launched on November 16, 2022, carried the Orion spacecraft with the European Service Module (ESM) manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space for two planned low fly-by orbits to the Moon.

[15] While Aérospatiale served as the principal contractor for the ATV, it was joined by multiple major subcontractors, including Italian manufacturer Alenia Spazio, Franco-British firm Matra Marconi Space and German aerospace company DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA); some components were also provided by Russian firm S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia.

[26] In April 2007, the ATV was subject to four-month long qualification process in response to operational concerns, including safety queries originating from the U.S., and to examine the vehicle's potential commercialisation.

In 2004, contracts and accords were signed for four additional ATVs, which were envisioned to be launched at a rate of around one every two years, bringing the total order, including the first, Jules-Verne, to five vehicles.

[citation needed] On 31 July 2007, the first ATV, Jules Verne, arrived at the ESA spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, after a nearly two-week journey from Rotterdam harbour.

[34][35] On 3 April 2008, Jules Verne succeeded in automatically docking with the ISS, proving the capabilities of the ESA's first fully automated, expendable cargo resupply spacecraft.

[28] Under the proposal, which had been issued by a joint venture between EADS and Boeing, the ATV would be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, using a Delta IV rocket.

[39][40] One speculated use for NASA's ATV was to achieve the de-orbiting of the ISS once the space station had reached the end of its service life, being the only vehicle capable of doing so at that time after the Shuttle's retirement.

[citation needed] In terms of its role, the ATV was designed to complement the smaller Russian Progress spacecraft, possessing three times its useful payload capacity.

Similar to the Progress, it would carry both bulk liquids and relatively fragile freight, which would be stored within a cargo hold maintained at a pressurized shirt-sleeve environment in order that astronauts would be able to access payloads without the need to put on spacesuits.

[citation needed] The pressurized cargo section of the ATV was based on the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), which was a Shuttle-carried "space barge/container" that had been previously used for transporting equipment to and from the Station.

[14] Over an average mission time of 100 hours, it would perform phasing manoeuvers from its initial orbital high point under direct control from the ground-based European Space Operations Centre at Darmstadt, Germany, using NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

In the event of any last-minute technical issues or problems, a pre-programmed sequence of anti-collision manoeuvres, fully independent of the main navigation system, can be activated by the flight engineers aboard the station.

Its thrusters would deliberately move the spacecraft out of orbit (de-orbit) and place it on a steep flight path to perform a controlled destructive re-entry high above the Pacific Ocean.

The Jules Verne carried two of the author's original handwritten manuscripts, to be received by the ISS crew as symbolic tokens of the success of the maiden flight.

The ATV separated from the rocket, and following weeks of tests and orbit adjustments, successfully docked in the International Space Station at 14:45 UTC on 3 April 2008.

[citation needed] In the early morning hours of 29 September 2008, the Jules Verne burnt up on entering the atmosphere above an uninhabited section of the Pacific Ocean, southwest of Tahiti.

[59] The first launch attempt on 15 February 2011 had been halted during the final countdown at four minutes from lift off due to an erroneous signal from one of the rocket's fuel tanks.

The ATV-CC was responsible for the planning and the issuing of commands for the orbital maneuvers and mission tasks of each ATV, from the moment of separation from its launch vehicle, until it burns up in the Earth's atmosphere.

[14][16] The potential commercialisation of the ATV was also the subject of a formal study conducted by the ESA, during which the prospects of using the spacecraft as a dedicated tug for satellites, as well as the use of alternative launch systems, were examined.

[76] Following the decision by NASA to retire the Space Shuttle in 2011, the ESA decided to launch a further series of studies to determine the potential for evolutions and adaptations of the ATV.

[93] During the 2010s, Lockheed Martin put together a proposal for Commercial Resupply Services 2 that included a new 4.4-meter (14 ft) diameter cargo transport module called Exoliner, which was based on the ATV and was to be jointly developed with Thales Alenia Space.