Vega Rocket Officially Ready for Maiden Flight

After completing a whole bunch of tests, officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) say that their newest delivery system, the Vega light-lift rocket, is finally ready for its maiden flight. Its first takeoff will occur on February 13, from the Kourou Spaceport, in French Guiana, South America.

This rocket fills an important gap in the agency's launch capabilities. ESA uses Arianespace's Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket for its most important missions, and (more recently) the Russian-built Soyuz medium-lift delivery system for launching its Galileo navigation satellites.

Vega will be used for smaller payloads. Its benchmark tests were conducted for delivering 1,500 kilograms (3,307 pounds) into a polar orbit 700 kilometers (435 miles) above the surface of the planet.

The February 13 event is scheduled to occur during a 2-hour launch window spanning from 1000 to 1200 GMT (07:00 to 09:00, local time). I'll keep my fingers crossed.