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April 30, 2014

Commercial liftoff for Europe's smallest launcher
Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Apr 30, 2014
The third launch by Europe's new small launcher, Vega, has delivered Kazakhstan's first satellite for high-resolution Earth observation into its planned orbit. Liftoff of flight VV03 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana came at 01:35 GMT on 30 April (03:35 CEST; 22:35 local time on 29 April). The DZZ-HR satellite was released into the target Sun-synchronous circular orbit at 750 km altitude and an inclination of 98.54+ precisely 55 minutes and 29 seconds after launch. This ... read more

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