On Wednesday 5 June 2013, Ariane 5 VA213 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana with ESA’s fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, Albert Einstein, en route to the International Space Station.
At 20 190 kg, ATV Albert Einstein is the heaviest spacecraft ever launched by Ariane, beating predecessor ATV Edoardo Amaldi by some 150 kg. ESA’s resupply and reboost vehicle is the largest, most advanced and most capable of the vehicles servicing the orbital outpost.