New ESA spacecraft heads to its launch pad

PARIS, July 18 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle, along with about 400 tons of spacecraft equipment, is en route to its launch pad.

A French cargo ship sailed from Rotterdam Harbor Tuesday, beginning an 11-day journey to Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The ESA's first Automated Transfer Vehicle, named the Jules Verne, was split into three sections before leaving the space agency's research and technology center at Noordwijk, the Netherlands, last Friday. The International Space Station's modernized re-supply cargo spacecraft was transported by trucks to a nearby harbor and then carried by canal barge to Rotterdam.

The containers were loaded onboard the French cargo ship Toucan, which is normally used by Arianespace to transport Ariane rocket components on the same route across the Atlantic Ocean.

Once in Kourou, the ATV will have to undergo integration and further testing, the ESA said. Only upon completion of those tests will a precise launch date be set, but lift off is not expected before mid-January.