Wednesday, November 9 2005 19:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Moscow: Europe's first space mission to Venus was successfully launched today (Nov 9, 2005) to carry out the most detailed study of the Earth's neighbour.

The Venus Express lifted off on board Russian Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Baikonur space centre (Kazakhstan) at 09:03 IST. The probe reached the trajectory to Venus at 10:40 IST after which the European Space Agency (ESA) took over control of the spacecraft.

After a 153-day journey to the 'Evening Star', the spacecraft will enter the planet's orbit in April 2006 and work at its orbit for two Venerian days equivalent to 486 days on the Earth.

Contact with Venus Express was established by ESA's European Space Operations Centre at Darmstadt, Germany approximately two hours after lift-off.

All on-board systems were operating perfectly and the orbiter is communicating with the Earth via its low-gain antenna, the Agency said.

Venus Express will perform a detailed study of the structure, chemistry and dynamics of the planet's atmosphere, which is characterised by extremely high temperatures, very high atmospheric pressure, a huge 'greenhouse effect' and as-yet inexplicable 'super-rotation' which means that it speeds around the planet in just four days, the ESA said.

The European spacecraft will also be the first orbiter to probe the planet's surface while exploiting the 'visibility windows' recently discovered in the infrared waveband.

In three days' time, it will establish communications using its high-gain antenna, the ESA said.

The Venus Express is the ESA's first mission to the planet. Initially the Venus probe was to be launched on October 26. However, due to glitches in Fregat booster it was postponed till today.

"With Venus Express, we fully intend to demonstrate yet again that studying the planets is of vital importance for life here on Earth," said Jean Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General.

"To understand climate change on Earth and all the contributing factors, we cannot make do with solely observing our own planet. We need to decipher the mechanics of the planetary atmosphere in general terms," he said.

"With Venus Express, we are going to add a further specimen to our collection. Originally, Venus and the Earth must have been very similar planets. So we really do need to understand why and how they eventually diverged to the point that one became a cradle for life while the other developed into a hostile environment," he said.

A virtual twin sister of the Mars Express spacecraft which has been orbiting the Red Planet since December 2003, Venus Express is the second planet-bound probe to be launched by the European Space Agency.