[NOORDWIJK, The Netherlands (AFP) Apr 09, 2002
Europe on Tuesday unveiled its biggest contribution to the International Space Station (ISS) -- a robot spaceship that is part freighter, part tug.
An assembled test version of the 20-tonne spacecraft, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), was presented to the media at the European Space Agency (ESA) research centre here, where it is undergoing safety exercises.

The first ship, due to be launched in late 2004, has been baptised "Jules Verne," in honour of the 19th-century French author who sowed the seeds of space exploration in the minds of millions, ESA said.]

Pretty cool, it will be unmanned, pressurized/could serve as an escape pod, with auto dock capability and will use an automatic navigation system (a la DS1 I suppose). Also...

[Thrusters aboard the ATV are also used to place the ISS into higher orbit, for the station loses some 200 metres (650 feet) in altitude each day because of the Earth's gravitational pull. Without a nudge from a docked craft or from its own thrusters, the ISS would eventually plummet to Earth in a ball of fire.]

From Space Daily.

Cheers,

Marcia