{"id":14818,"date":"2017-03-07T20:04:49","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T12:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/photos-vega-rocket-vaults-off-launch-pad\/"},"modified":"2017-03-07T20:04:49","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T12:04:49","slug":"photos-vega-rocket-vaults-off-launch-pad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/photos-vega-rocket-vaults-off-launch-pad\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Vega rocket vaults off launch pad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Firing off the launch pad with more than a half-million pounds of thrust, a Vega rocket soared into space Monday night from French Guiana with Europe\u2019s Sentinel 2B environmental satellite.<\/p>\n<p>The 98-foot-tall (30-meter), four-stage rocket, powered by Italian and Ukrainian propulsion, took off at 10:49:24 p.m. local time in French Guiana (0149:24 GMT; 8:49:24 p.m. EST). Less than an hour later, the Vega launcher released Sentinel 2B into its planned orbit nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth.<\/p>\n<p>Read our full story for details on the Vega rocket\u2019s ninth mission.<\/p>\n<p>The images of posted below show the Vega rocket on the launch pad during retraction of the mobile gantry a few hours before flight, followed by the booster\u2019s late-night blastoff.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22700\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22700\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-22700\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_009.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_009.jpg 841w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_009-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_009-768x542.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22700\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Piron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22701\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22701\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-22701\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_023.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_023.jpg 841w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_023-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_023-768x542.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22701\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Piron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22702\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22702\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-22702\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_053.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_053.jpg 594w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_053-212x300.jpg 212w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22702\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Piron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22703\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22703\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-22703\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_060.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_060.jpg 594w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Retrait-portique_060-212x300.jpg 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22703\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Piron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22704\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22704\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-22704\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff_node_full_image_2-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"801\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff_node_full_image_2-2.jpg 590w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff_node_full_image_2-2-253x300.jpg 253w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22704\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22705\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22705\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22705\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22705\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22706\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22706\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22706\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"801\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-2.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-2-253x300.jpg 253w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22706\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22707\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22707\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22707\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-3.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-3-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22707\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22708\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22708\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-22708\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17201438_1367583219946689_6956085501959181435_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17201438_1367583219946689_6956085501959181435_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17201438_1367583219946689_6956085501959181435_n-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17201438_1367583219946689_6956085501959181435_n-768x542.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22708\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 OV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22709\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22709\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22709\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-4.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-4-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22709\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22710\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22710\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22710\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-5.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-5-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22710\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22711\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22711\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22711\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"801\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-6.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-6-253x300.jpg 253w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22711\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22712\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22712\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-22712\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17191040_1367583263280018_8196260158172008930_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17191040_1367583263280018_8196260158172008930_n.jpg 640w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17191040_1367583263280018_8196260158172008930_n-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22712\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 OV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22713\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22713\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-22713\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/16995936_1367583213280023_8817936614401490440_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/16995936_1367583213280023_8817936614401490440_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/16995936_1367583213280023_8817936614401490440_n-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/16995936_1367583213280023_8817936614401490440_n-768x542.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22713\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 S. Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22714\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22714\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22714\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"449\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-7.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-7-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22714\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22715\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22715\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-22715\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17190672_1367583249946686_430917450972932806_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17190672_1367583249946686_430917450972932806_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17190672_1367583249946686_430917450972932806_n-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17190672_1367583249946686_430917450972932806_n-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22715\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 S. Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22716\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22716\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22716\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-9.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-9-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22716\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22717\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22717\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22717\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-10.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Sentinel-2B_liftoff-10-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22717\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: ESA\u2013Stephane Corvaja, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Firing off the launch pad with more than a half-million pounds of thrust, a Vega rocket soared into space Monday night from French Guiana with Europe\u2019s Sentinel 2B environmental satellite. The 98-foot-tall (30-meter), four-stage rocket, powered by Italian and Ukrainian propulsion, took off at 10:49:24 p.m. local time in French Guiana (0149:24 GMT; 8:49:24 p.m. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1657,498,1244,1805,159,1060,831,1773],"class_list":["post-14818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-airbus-defense-and-space","tag-arianespace","tag-avio","tag-copernicus","tag-earth-observation","tag-european-commission","tag-european-space-agency","tag-guiana-space-center"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}