When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.Credit: ArianespaceEurope’s Vega C rocket launched for the sixth time ever today (Dec. 1), sending a powerful Earth-observation satellite to orbit.South Korea’s KOMPSAT-7 spacecraft lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana atop a Vega C rocket today at 12:21 p.m. EST (1721 GMT; 2:21 p.m. Kourou time).AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe rocket deployed KOMPSAT-7 on scheduled about 44 minutes after liftoff, into a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) 358 miles (576 kilometers) above Earth.An Arianespace Vega C rocket launches South Korea’s KOMPSAT-7 Earth-observing satellite from Kourou, French Guiana, on Dec. 1, 2025. | Credit: ArianespaceThe 3,990-pound (1,810-kilogram) KOMPSAT-7 was built by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. It’s the successor to KOMPSAT-3A, which launched to Earth orbit in March 2015.The new satellite will be “one of the world’s most advanced ultra-high-resolution optical satellites,” according to the press kit provided by the France-based company Arianespace, which operates the Vega C.”It is designed to support detailed observation of the Korean Peninsula and to meet the growing national demand for high-quality satellite imagery,” adds the press kit, which you can find here.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKOMPSAT-7 also features “optical data transmission technology — a first for a Korean satellite — to enable real-time processing of large-volume Earth-observation imagery via electro-optical modules and onboard storage/processing systems,” Arianespace wrote.[embedded content]Today’s mission, which Arianespace calls VV28, was the sixth for the four-stage, 115-foot-tall (35-meter-tall) Vega C, which was developed by the European Space Agency.Four of the medium-lift rocket’s five launches before today were successful. The lone failure occurred on the Vega C’s second mission, which lifted off in December 2022.Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 1 with news of successful liftoff. …
