First Vega Rocket Launches on Monday

ESA officials announce that the first Vega rocket is now fully assembled at the Kourou Spaceport, in French Guiana, South America. Its maiden flight will take place on Monday, February 13, and the booster will carry nine small satellite to Earth's orbit.

I've tracked the progress this rocket has made over the past few years, and probably am nearly as excited about this launch as the engineers who actually built the 30-meter (100-foot) tall, 3-meter (10-foot) wide delivery system. Its launch window is opened between 1000 and 1200 GMT, Space reports.

Though Vega is a light-lift vehicle, it covers an important market, that of small satellites and scientific payloads. “Vega will complete the possibilities for space launch for Europe,” ESA launchers Director, Antonio Fabrizi, explains. The agency also uses Russian Soyuz and Ariane V rockets.

The new rocket can deliver up to 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms) of cargo to multiple orbits. The payload can be divided between a large satellite and six small ones, or many more microsatellites and CubeSats.