ESA's last Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)-5, Georges Lemaitre, successfully docked itself at the International Space Station after it was launched on July 29 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The name of ATV-5 Georges Lemaitre is inspired from the Belgian priest and scientist who first formulated the Big Bang Theory.

Mission control in Toulouse, France and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov inside the space station supervised the unmanned cargo ship when it autonomously docked itself.

ATV-5 is the fifth and final mission of the European ATV program and after making a series of safety steps for several hours, it was given the clearance to proceed further.

"From 39 km to just 250 m from the Station, ATV navigated itself using relative satnav signals, in which both the Station and ATV compare their positions using GPS", said Jean-Michel Bois, leader of the ESA operations team at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France.

ATV navigated the final 250 m by using a videometer and telegoniometer. ATV was latched onto with hooks after making a soft docking with the space station. The pressurized cargo compartment is filled with 6,602 kg (14,554) of food, clothing, drinking water, propellants, breathable gases, science experiments, and spare parts.

The docking has also marked the first flight of ESA's Laser InfraRed Imaging Sensors (LIRIS) demonstrator, which uses infrared lasers rather than radar beams.

ESA has said the technology behind LIRIS is aimed at scanning objects in space by making use of lasers. This will enable onboard computers to provide a map for better navigation and control.