'Jules Verne': Robotic Space Freighter

'Jules Verne' begins final voyage

By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News


Europe's space freighter has undocked from the International Space Station after completing its mission to the orbiting platform.
The ship - dubbed Jules Verne - moved away from the rear of the ISS at 2129GMT, taking itself to a position some 5km below the station.
The freighter will enter the atmosphere in three weeks' time, on 29 September.
The manoeuvre, over the Pacific, will destroy the vehicle and the station waste loaded on to it by astronauts.
Undocking was overseen by ISS mission controllers in Moscow, and by Jules Verne's dedicated management facility in Toulouse, France.
Jules Verne is the first in a series of unmanned freighters that will go to the station over the course of the next few years.
"It has satisfied all its requirements; it's met all our dreams and more," said John Ellwood, from the European Space Agency (Esa).