Jules Verne cargo ship docks with space station

An unmanned European cargo vessel making its maiden voyage docked at the International Space Station Thursday morning, providing the orbiting structure and its crew with a fresh shipment of food, fuel and supplies.

The automated transfer vehicle — dubbed Jules Verne in honour of the pioneering 19th-century French science fiction author — carried over five tonnes of freight and completed its mechanical docking sequence with the station's Zvezda module at about 10:55 a.m. ET.

The European Space Agency hopes the vehicle will be able to take over many of the supply runs to the space station, which requires the regular delivery of experimental equipment, spare parts, fuel, food and water.

The supply vehicle launched from a modified European Ariane 5 rocket at the European Space Agency's port in Kourou, French Guiana, on March 9. It had been circling the Earth at a distance from the station before the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth last week.

It is just the fourth different kind of spacecraft to visit the station, joining the U.S. shuttles, Russian manned Soyuz rocket and unmanned Progress vehicle.

Heavy lifting

The massive 19-tonne vehicle, about the size of a double-decker bus, can carry three times the cargo of the Progress vehicles. The cargo ships will also take on added importance once NASA discontinues the space shuttle program in 2010.

Depending on the operational lifespan of the vehicles, the ESA said it plans to build five ATVs in total. The ESA has invested about $2 billion in the program. Jules Verne is expected to stay attached to the station for six months.

The transport vehicle is scheduled to travel to the space station every 17 months.

A Japanese-built spacecraft, called the Hi-II transfer vehicle or HTV, is also expected to visit the space station next year.