One speculated use for NASA's ATV was to achieve the de-orbiting of the ISS once the space station had reached the end of its service life, being the only vehicle capable of doing so at that time after the Shuttle's retirement. Ultimately, the proposal was not awarded with a corresponding contract. The "Automated Transfer Vehicle" (ATV) was a 1990s-design expendable cargo spacecraft. Each vehicle consisted of two distinct sections, the systems bus and the integrated cargo carrier. The system bus contained the ATV's propulsion system, avionics bays, and solar arrays; it was principally used following the vehicle's detachment from the Ariane 5 launcher to automatically traverse the remaining distance and dock with the ISS, the system bus would be inaccessible to the astronauts on board. The integrated cargo carrier consisted of a pressurised module, external bays for fluid and gas cargoes, further avionics and rendezvous sensors, and the docking mechanism. The primary structure of the ATV is protected by a meteorite and debris protection system. The first ATV was built in the 2000s and the first one to fly in space was in 2008. The docking system of the ATV consists of a pair of videometers and a pair of telegoniometers manufactured by Sodern, a subsidiary of Airbus. Data processing for the rendezvous docking maneuver and emergency abort systems were designed and manufactured by CRISA. Additional monitoring data and redundancy was provided by the Kurs automatic docking system, which was also used by Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. Visual imagery is provided by a camera on the Zvezda ISS module. In terms of its role, the ATV was designed to complement the smaller Russian Progress spacecraft, possessing three times its useful payload capacity. Similar to the Progress, it would carry both bulk liquids and relatively fragile freight, which would be stored within a cargo hold maintained at a pressurized shirt-sleeve environment in order that astronauts would be able to access payloads without the need to put on spacesuits. The pressurized cargo section of the ATV was based on the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), which was a Shuttle-carried "space barge" that had been previously used for transporting equipment to and from the Station. Unlike the MPLM, the ATV used the same docking mechanism as employed upon the Progress. The ATV, like the Progress, also serves as a container for the station's waste. Each ATV weighs 20.7 tonnes at launch and has a cargo capacity of 8 tonnes:  ATVs were intended to be routinely launched every 17 months to conduct resupply missions to the International Space Station.