The rocket had been intended to rise above the 51 mile mark that is considered the lower limit of space and reach an altitude of 64 miles. While not all of the goals were met, the launch was hailed as a success. It is considered to have reached the verge of space and broke a number of records. These include the highest altitude for an amateur built rocket and the highest altitude for a hybrid rocket. ESA The ESA will have a large role to play during the Atlantis mission.
Complimentary equipment is already on the station.
The ATV will be launched on an Ariane 5 and will begin delivering supplies to the ISS in 2003. The shuttle is also carrying a number of ESA experiments in the Spacehab module in the cargo bay. ESA's Biorack is on its sixth trip to space. The first stage engine is being developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The crack occurred during the fifth test of the LE-7A first stage motor and caused the 350 second test to be halted 3 seconds short of completion.