KOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) – an unmanned Ariane rocket took off last year, according to the authorities in the early hours of Friday from French Guiana in the first European supply mission to the international space station since the end of the US shuttle program.

The modified Ariane rocket took off at 04: 34 GMT from the Centre’s launch of the European Space Agency in Kourou, French Guiana, in the northeast of South America, taking more than six tonnes of cargo.

U.S. space shuttles were major suppliers of cargo to the international space station, but a final mission of 12 days of the Atlantis spacecraft in July of 2011 ended the program who already met 30 years.

The European fleet of vehicles of transfer automated (VTA) is now key to bring supplies to the international space station.

More than one hour after the launch, Edoardo Amaldi automated transfer vehicle – named to a physicist and pioneer of flights space 20th century Italian – separated from the Ariane rocket. It is scheduled to dock at the space station on March 28.

Built by an industrial consortium led by EADS ASTRIUM, a division of the EADS European industrial giant, the drone is designed for delivery of fuel, food, clothing and oxygen to the crew of the international space station, as well as spare parts.

Is the third VTA Europe has provided to the program of the international space station. The first docked with the station in early 2008, and the second, at the beginning of last year.

The VTA will be docked to the space station until August while astronauts remove its cargo and her filled with waste from the station.

Then it will be sent back to the Earth and will be burned to re-enter the atmosphere. Any remaining debris would fall in a remote area of the Pacific Ocean.

The Progress Russian aircraft have less than half the capacity of cargo than European VTA.

The new American company SpaceX, an idea of the co-founder of PayPal Elon Musk, has scheduled its first supply mission to the international space station aboard its Dragon spacecraft by the end of April to.

The space station, which is complete in 90 percent, is a project of 15 countries valued at about $ 150 billion.

/Por Franck Leconte /