A European rocket will launch a powerful Earth-observation satellite to orbit today (Dec. 1), and you can watch the action live.

South Korea's KOMPSAT-7 spacecraft is scheduled to lift 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).

The French company Arianespace, which operates the Vega C, will stream the launch live. Space.com will carry Arianespace's feed, if (as expected) it's made available.

The 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 Arianespace's press

See Full Page