After two delays, Vega C achieved lift-off from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana at 2:21 pm (1721 GMT), an AFP journalist saw, with a significant South Korean delegation that had made the trip to South America watching on.

After 45 minutes of flight, the lightweight rocket deposited the Kompsat-7 into orbit, with the 1.8-tonne satellite set to monitor the Korean peninsula for at least five years.

The mission's success contrasts with the failure of the Vega C's first commercial flight, when the rocket lost two Airbus satellites at a time when Europe was already deprived of Russia's Soyuz rockets following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, Europe lost an independent way to launch its missions into space for a year, while its new-generation heavyweight Ariane 6 rocket suffered repeated delays.

Although Ariane 6 finally blasted off in 2024, the rocket is not reusable -- unlike SpaceX's Falcon 9 workhorse, which has helped Elon Musk's company rise to dominate the market.

gr-neo/sbk/jhb

Airbus Group