Shuttle blasts off for International Space Station

The US space shuttle Endeavour and seven astronauts blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin a 16-day mission to deliver the last piece of Japan's research laboratory to the International Space Station.

After five delays due to fuel leaks, lightning strikes and bad weather, Endeavour soared into the sky at 10.03 p.m. GMT yesterday on a path that will lead it to the space station tomorrow.

The station's newly expanded six-man crew will assist the Endeavour astronauts with the installation of an external experiments platform, the final component of Japan's elaborate $2.4 billion Kibo laboratory.

The platform, designed to hold experiments in an open space environment, is to be installed during the first of five spacewalks planned during the Endeavour crew's 11-day stay.

Astronauts also will replace batteries and deliver space components needed to keep the station operational after the shuttle fleet is retired next year.

The station orbits 220 miles above Earth and has been under construction for more than a decade. Including Endeavour's mission, NASA has eight shuttle flights remaining to complete the $100 billion outpost, a project of 16 nations.

Endeavour astronaut Timothy Kopra will join the station crew for an abbreviated six-week stay, taking over the flight engineer's job currently held by Japan's Koichi Wakata. Wakata, who has been in orbit since March, returns aboard Endeavour, which is due back at the Kennedy Space Center on July 31.