Posted: Sun, Dec 6, 2015, 10:01 AM ET (1501 GMT)
A Vega small launch vehicle successfully launched ESA's Lisa Pathfinder spacecraft early Thursday. The Vega lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 11:04 p.m. EST Wednesday (1:04 am local time, 0404 GMT Thursday), placing the spacecraft into an elliptical parking orbit. The spacecraft will later maneuver to the Earth-Sun L-1 Lagrange point to carry out its mission to demonstrate technologies that could be used by future spacecraft to detect gravitational waves. The launch was also the sixth for the Vega, ending a demonstration phase of the vehicle funded by ESA.

Related Links:

•  BBC article
•  Reuters article
•  SpaceNews article
•  Sky & Telescope article
•  ESA press release