The Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 1 (ATV-1), was a robotic cargo spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency (ESA).

[1] It was launched on 9 March 2008 on a mission to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo.

[5] The propulsion system was integrated with the pressurised compartment in Bremen, before the spacecraft was moved to the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, for testing.

[6] Jules Verne was launched into low Earth orbit atop the maiden flight of the Ariane 5ES carrier rocket.

[7] The Overberg Test Range played a part in relaying ATV telemetry data from a mobile station deployed in New Zealand during the launch phase.

[7] During the free-flight phase, some shell heaters were more active than anticipated, but because the thermal and power situation remained acceptable, this did not affect the mission.

[10] Air trapped under the blankets during launch rapidly expanded as the ATV's altitude increased; more holes were added to future craft to fix this problem.

Because Jules Verne was the first ATV, several on-orbit demonstration tests were performed in order to confirm that it was able to safely approach and dock with the ISS.

When Jules Verne was 249 metres (817 ft) from the space station, the final docking procedure was guided by the videometer, which fired laser pulses at cube-shaped reflectors on the Zvezda module, and the telegoniometer, which functioned like a radar system.

The manoeuvre culminated in a successful rendezvous with the space station at a distance of 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi), despite a minor anomaly with the electronic systems controlling the spacecraft's engines.

[13] During Demo-Day 2, Jules Verne closed in to within 12 metres (39 ft) of the International Space Station, after which the ISS crew simulated an abort.

In April, Soyuz TMA-12 delivered two members of the Expedition 17 crew, and also carried South Korean spaceflight participant Yi So-Yeon.

At 13:31 UTC, Jules Verne re-entered the atmosphere at an altitude of 120 km (75 mi), and then completed its destructive re-entry as planned over the following 12 minutes,[23] depositing debris in the South Pacific Ocean southwest of Tahiti in a particularly well-documented reentry and breakup.