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Successful lift-off for Europe's new Vega rocket
Feb 13, 2012, 10:22 GMT
Kourou - Europe's new Vega rocket lifted off successfully from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana on its first test flight Monday.
The 30-metre-tall Vega, which was designed in Italy and took nearly a decade to complete, lifted off at 1000 GMT on its maiden voyage, which was to last 81 minutes.
The diminutive Vega, which can carry payloads of up to 2,500 kilograms, completes the European family of rockets, which includes the heavy-duty Ariane 5 and the mid-size Russian-built Soyuz.
The rocket will release nine satellites into orbit on its maiden flight: two Italian satellites and seven pico satellites provided by European universities.
The Vega was developed by seven European countries at a cost of nearly 790 million euros (around 1 billion dollars).
The last time the ESA launched a new rocket was on June 4, 1996, when it carried out the first test flight of the Ariane 5.
That rocket exploded 40 seconds after lift-off from Kourou. An investigation later identified a software error.
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