BBC
Europe's ATV has lifted off from French Guiana on a mission to resupply the International Space Station (ISS).
The Automated Transfer Vehicle is the biggest and most complex spacecraft Europe has ever tried to put in orbit.
The 20-tonne unmanned cargo ship left the Kourou spaceport at 0403 GMT, riding atop an Ariane 5 rocket.
Mission controllers will confirm a successful launch only after the ATV has been ejected from the Ariane's upper-stage 66 minutes after lift-off.
The ATV is carrying just under five tonnes of food, water, air, fuel and equipment to be passed over to the ISS during the course of a six-month attachment at the orbiting platform.
During that stay, the vehicle will also use its thrusters to push the station higher into the sky to keep it from falling back to Earth.................
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