Follow the major events during the launch of Europe’s LISA Pathfinder gravitational probe testbed, from liftoff of its Vega rocket booster from French Guiana through deployment into its initial orbit.
A late-night liftoff Thursday lit up the forested shoreline of South America as a Russian-made Soyuz rocket streaked into orbit with two new satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system. Relive the launch with a video replay and photos of the fiery departure.
An Ariane 5 rocket sent two Intelsat communications satellites into orbit Wednesday after liftoff from Europe’s space base in French Guiana at 2216 GMT (6:16 p.m. EDT; 7:16 p.m. local time).
Engineers are resuming preparations to launch an experimental European re-entry test vehicle on a Vega rocket Feb. 11 after a two-month delay ordered by safety authorities to analyze risks posed to the public by the booster’s unique trajectory after liftoff from French Guiana.