Launch of Europe's Vega C rocket
Watch today's launch of Europe's Vega C rocket for the first time. Source You can watch the launch of a new European rocket today (July 13). French-operated Arianespace is scheduled to launch its Vega C medium-lift rocket today at 8:13am EDT from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana (1213 GMT, 9:13 local time in Kourou). Here at Space.com, thanks to Arianespace, you can watch it live or directly from the company (opens in new tab). To put it another way: This will be the first time the four-stage Vega C has been used in a mission. European Space Agency (ESA) officials said in a statement that the new variant can haul 2.3 tonnes of payload to a polar orbit about 435 miles (700 kilometres) above Earth, compared to 1.5 tonnes for Vega (opens in new tab). A primary payload for Vega-first C's mission to Earth orbit will be the Italian Space Agency's LARES-2 satellite. Using this satellite, researchers will be able to study the phenomenon known as frame dragging, ...