Europe’s new Vega rocket completes flawless first flight

BBC : The Europan Space Agency’s (ESA) Vega rocket, a four-stage vehicle built to carry satellites of 2.5 tons or less, completed its first mission on Monday in about 70 minutes. It carried nine payloads, including the LARES (Laser Relativity Satellite) craft, which is designed to study frame-dragging—a consequence of general relativity that arises when Earth distorts local space-time as it rotates. Until now, ESA’s smaller satellites have been sent into space using decommissioned Russian missiles; securing a launch slot on one usually entailed a long wait. The Vega will give the ESA more control over its satellite launches and return a significant high-tech enterprise to the European economy.