Europe's new generation spacecraft European space travel is taking a giant step forward with the launch of a first-of-its-kind spacecraft.

It’s the biggest space vehicle Europe has ever built. Jules Verne weighs 20 tons and stands more than 30 feet high. In a way it’s not much more than a high-tech space truck to carry supplies to the International Space Station. But it’s actually much more important than that, because it gives Europe the ability to take goods and astronauts into space independently of NASA.

“The Jules Verne Vehicle is something which the Europe has spent a lot of money and a lot of time working on, and if it works, it will be certainly a big step forward for the countries that are involved with that. That does not include the UK um, but nonetheless it certainly is a big technological breakthrough to have something like this going up built by the countries in the Europe rather than the Americans in doing this kind of work. ”

When it blasts off from French Guiana early on Sunday, it will be unmanned carrying a cargo of almost 8 tons of fuel, food, air and water. The European Space Agency says it’s the first spacecraft to dock in space without human intervention. It uses a Russian-built docking system, with laser eyes to close in on the space station. And although it’s unmanned, it is man-rated, so astronauts will be able to collect supplies, including drinking water from Milan during its six months’ stay. After that it will undock, carrying the Space Station’s rubbish, and burn up on reentry—a very expensive dustbin.

It’s been built mostly in France and Germany but British engineers helped to fuel the vehicle at the launch site.

"This is a lot bigger than anything I have ever done before. I’m quite excited about it because it's, it's what, it’s the European contribution to the Space Station, and it’s on a big scale as well.”

After the last space shuttle flies in 2010, Jules Verne will be the only game in town.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. dock : verb

When one spacecraft docks or is docked with another, the two crafts join together in space.

2. man-rated : adj

Human-rated or man-rated are terms used to describe the certification of a rocket or airplane as worthy of transporting humans. NASA now uses "Human-rating" when describing requirements for these systems. The terms "man-rated" and "human-rated" are mostly used interchangeably.