ATVs were intended to be routinely launched every 17 months to conduct resupply missions to the International Space Station. The vehicle was launched into an orbital plane compatible with the ISS via the Ariane 5 expendable launch system; shortly after detaching from the launcher, the ATV would deploy its solar panels. Over an average mission time of 100 hours, it would perform phasing manoeuvers from its initial orbital high point under direct control from the ground-based European Space Operations Centre at Darmstadt, Germany using NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. A second series of manoeuvres would bring the ATV to the precise altitude of the ISS before commencing integrated operations for the final approach with the Space Station, during which mission authority transferred to NASA's Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas.