AEROSPATIALE TO DEVELOP SPACE STATION FREIGHTER.

Aerospatiale, the French aerospace group, has signed an ECU 408 million contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop a high-tech space freighter and flying dustbin for the International Space Station (IIS). In November, a Zarya navigation and propulsion module lifted into orbit - the first building block in the USD60 billion station being built by the United States, Europe, Canada, Russia and Japan. Aerospatiale's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) - shaped like a 20-tonne large tin can, with wing-like solar panels for power - will work as a high-tech "space dustbin", removing waste from the space station. ATV will be launched by an Ariane 5 Evolution (rocket), and its first flight is planned for 2003. The ATV - a hybrid between a satellite and unmanned launcher - will be able to stay in space for six months at a time and carry nine tonnes of fuel and freight to the station with each flight. It will ensure about eight missions from...