Europe's Ariane-6 rocket blasts off on maiden flight

The vehicle set off from a launchpad in French Guiana at 16:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on a demonstration mission to put a clutch of satellites in orbit.

Crews on the ground in Kourou applauded as the rocket - developed at a cost of €4bn (£3.4bn) - soared into the sky.

But after climbing smoothly to the desired altitude, and correctly releasing a number of small satellites, the upper-stage of the rocket experienced an anomaly right at the end of the flight.

Computers onboard took the decision to prematurely shut down the auxiliary power unit (APU) that pressurises the propulsion system.

This left Ariane's upper-stage unable to initiate the burn that was supposed to bring it out of orbit and also set up the final task of the mission – to jettison two re-entry capsules.

Controllers were unable to remedy the situation, but the flight was nonetheless still declared a success.

"We're relieved; we're excited," said Josef Aschbacher, the director general of the European Space Agency.

This is a historic moment. The inaugural launch of a new heavy-lift rocket doesn't happen every year; it happens only every 20 years or maybe 30 years. And today we have launched Ariane-6 successfully," he told reporters.

Ariane-6 is intended to be a workhorse rocket that gives European governments and companies access to space independently from the rest of the world. It already has a backlog of launch contracts, but there are worries its design could limit future prospects.

Like its predecessor, Ariane-5, the new model is expendable - a new rocket is needed for every mission, whereas the latest American vehicles are being built to be wholly or partially reusable.

Even so, European space officials believe Ariane-6 can carve out a niche for itself.

On the surface, the 6 looks very similar to the old 5, but under the skin it harnesses state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques (3D printing, friction stir welding, augmented reality design, etc) that should result in faster and cheaper production.

Ariane-6 will operate in two configurations:

• The "62" will incorporate two solid-fuel side boosters for lifting medium-sized payloads
• The "64" will have four strap-on boosters to lift the heaviest satellites on the market

The core stage is supplemented with a second, or upper, stage that will place the payloads in their precise orbits high above the Earth.

This stage has the new capability to be stopped and restarted multiple times, which is useful when launching large batches of satellites into a constellation, or network.