BEFORE: The Ariane 5 with its ATV Edoardo Amaldi payload is shown at the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone, ready for liftoff on Arianespace’s third resupply flight to support the International Space Station.

A European rocket was launched from South America to resupply the International Space Station. This is the 205th Ariane launch in which the the European Space Agency’s third Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) into a low Earth orbit inclined 51.6 degrees. The Ariane 5 rocket took off early Friday from the European Space Agency's launch site in French Guiana.

AFTER: An Ariane 5 rocket launches the unmanned ATV-3 Edoardo Amaldi robotic cargo ship toward the International Space Station on March 23, 2012 in a successful liftoff from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. CREDIT: Arianespace

The rocket is placing in orbit an unmanned cargo ship named the ``Edoardo Amaldi'' in honor of a 20th century Italian physicist regarded as one of the fathers of European spaceflight. The space vehicle is carrying about 7 tons of cargo, including food, clothing, spare parts and propellant for the space station.

NASA says the Edoardo Amaldi is expected to remain at the station through early September. It will then undock and be commanded to deorbit and burn up during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.