Venus Express, ESA’s first probe to Venus is lifting off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 04:33 CET on 9 November 2005.

A second PFS instrument is now on its way to Venus, on board ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft launched on 9 November from Baikonur in Kazakstan. The PFS high-resolution spectrometer will measure atmospheric temperature and composition at varying altitudes. It will also measure surface temperature and search for signs of current volcanic activity.

ESA has confirmed that contact with the spacecraft has been established by ESA’s Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, and that all onboard systems are working. Instruments and onboard equipment will be checked out in the coming days.

Venus Express, a twin of ESA’s Mars Express, is due to reach Venus in April 2006, and the PFS will be switched on December 4 , for a week of testing activity. Further testing will be done when in orbit around Venus, but the first observations of our twin planet will occur during the long, ten day orbit after its arrival at Venus.