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| Esa's Vega rocket puts Proba-V vegetation mission in orbit | Esa's Vega rocket puts Proba-V vegetation mission in orbit |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Europe's Vega rocket has successfully completed its second mission. | Europe's Vega rocket has successfully completed its second mission. |
| The vehicle left the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana at 23:06 local time on Friday (02:06 GMT, Saturday), placing three satellites in orbit. | The vehicle left the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana at 23:06 local time on Friday (02:06 GMT, Saturday), placing three satellites in orbit. |
| Its primary payload was the 140kg Proba-V spacecraft. | Its primary payload was the 140kg Proba-V spacecraft. |
| This will acquire pictures of land use and vegetation changes from an altitude of 820km, maintaining an important data series started by the French Spot satellites in the late 1990s. | This will acquire pictures of land use and vegetation changes from an altitude of 820km, maintaining an important data series started by the French Spot satellites in the late 1990s. |
| Vega is the latest rocket to be developed by the European Space Agency (Esa). | Vega is the latest rocket to be developed by the European Space Agency (Esa). |
| Its purpose is to guarantee access to space for the small satellites (up to 2.5 tonnes) built by European nations. | Its purpose is to guarantee access to space for the small satellites (up to 2.5 tonnes) built by European nations. |
| These countries are investing, together with their industries, about a billion euros in the introduction of the new rocket. | These countries are investing, together with their industries, about a billion euros in the introduction of the new rocket. |
| Friday's launch was part of what Esa calls the Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment (Verta) programme - a sequence of flights intended to demonstrate the rocket's capabilities whilst at the same time moving it towards full commercial service. | Friday's launch was part of what Esa calls the Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment (Verta) programme - a sequence of flights intended to demonstrate the rocket's capabilities whilst at the same time moving it towards full commercial service. |
| To that end, one of the "passengers" on the flight was VNREDSat-1 - the first fee-paying payload to ride Vega. | To that end, one of the "passengers" on the flight was VNREDSat-1 - the first fee-paying payload to ride Vega. |
| The spacecraft, built for the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, will be used for environmental monitoring in the Asian country. | The spacecraft, built for the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, will be used for environmental monitoring in the Asian country. |
| A small satellite weighing just over 1kg was also despatched by the rocket. ESTCube-1, as it is known, is a student project and represents the first spacecraft to be made in Estonia. | |
| Europe already has a "heavy-lift" rocket, the Ariane-5; and has recently begun using a "Europeanised" version of the medium-class Russian Soyuz rocket in French Guiana. The small-class Vega completes the portfolio of launchers. | Europe already has a "heavy-lift" rocket, the Ariane-5; and has recently begun using a "Europeanised" version of the medium-class Russian Soyuz rocket in French Guiana. The small-class Vega completes the portfolio of launchers. |
| Friday's flight lasted just over two hours. Vega's upper-stage had to ignite several times to get all three satellites in their correct orbits. | Friday's flight lasted just over two hours. Vega's upper-stage had to ignite several times to get all three satellites in their correct orbits. |
| A final burn sent the upper-stage on a downwards trajectory to burn up in the atmosphere. | A final burn sent the upper-stage on a downwards trajectory to burn up in the atmosphere. |
| The manoeuvre ensured Vega limits its contribution to the growing population of redundant objects that now litter the space environment. | The manoeuvre ensured Vega limits its contribution to the growing population of redundant objects that now litter the space environment. |
| Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos |