High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 (ATV-001), was an unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). The ATV was named after the 19th-century French science-fiction author Jules Verne. It was launched on 9 March 2008 on a mission to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo.