ESA Considers Manned Spacecraft

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a contract with  the largest space company in Europe to study the possibility of building a manned spacecraft. Simonetta Di Pippo, director of human spaceflight for the ESA and Dr Michael Menking, head of orbital systems and space exploration for EADS Astrium, signed the 21 million euro contract on Tuesday, July 7, 2009.

The spacecraft, called the Advanced Re-Entry Vehicle (ARV), would be launched from an Ariane 5 rocket. It would be an upgraded version of the ESA's unmanned space freighter, the Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The ATV is unable to return to Earth and burns up when it hits the atmosphere. The ARV would have to survive the return trip to Earth.

The ATV would undergo two stages of modification. First, it would be transformed into a cargo ship that could return to Earth. Later, it would become a ship capable of transporting astronauts.
A robotic version of the ARV could be launched by 2015; a manned version, by 2025.

NASA's space shuttle is retiring next year, and until a replacement is found, there will be no way of bringing heavy cargo from the International Space Station back to Earth.

Some critics of the ARV are worried that the project will divert funds from scientific research and observation of the Earth.