A new European rocket made in Italy
blasted off on is maiden mission Wednesday.
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Vega C, made near Rome by
Avio, left the European launch site at Kourou in French Guyana
shortly before three fifteen Italian time.
Much of its payload is Italian: the scientific satellite Lares
2, of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and six cubesats,
including the Italian ones Astrobio and Greencube, made for ASI
by the National Astrophysics Institute (INAF) and Rome's La
Sapienza University.
The launch will conclude in just over two hours with the release
of the payload into orbit, after which the last stage of the
rocket will be switched off.
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