Europe’s new Jules Verne cargo ship has been cleared for its first docking with the International Space Station’s Russian-built Zvezda service module on Thursday.

The Jules Verne is the first of a new class of robot station supply ships called Automatic Transfer Vehicles or ATV’s. It can carry 10 tons of cargo.

The ship is to maneuver and dock itself automatically using GPS satellite navigation, and a new optical guidance system for close approach to the station. A twin laser system is to fire pulses of light at reflectors positioned on the end of Zvezda to determine the craft’s orientation, distance and closing rate to the space station.