"We have main engine start. Four, three, two, one, booster ignition and liftoff," an announcer from the space agency's mission control said.

The shuttle basted off at 6:03 pm (2203 GMT), in what was the sixth attempt on the heels of a stream of weather woes and technical troubles.

Soaring into the Florida sky, the shuttle accelerated into space faster than the speed of sound, reaching 26,000 kilometers (16,150 miles) per hour in less than nine minutes.

In the minutes before liftoff when it became clear that weather would not cause another costly delay, NASA's relief was evident.

"Persistence pays off, good luck and God speed," said launch director Pete Nickolenko.

Endeavour's launch has been scrubbed three times since Saturday due to bad weather.

Two earlier attempts in June were aborted after potentially hazardous fuel leaks were discovered, apparently caused by a misaligned plate linking a hydrogen gas vent line with the external fuel tank.

The previous attempts left the cash-strapped US space agency footing 4.5 million dollars in extra costs, and left officials with their fingers crossed ahead of Wednesday's launch.

Around five minutes into the shuttle's voyage it reached the point at which it could not return to the Kennedy Space Center, with all engines working well.

Eight minutes after launch it entered orbit 225 kilometers (140 miles) above the earth's surface and a few moments later the shuttle could be seen successfully separating from the external fuel tank.

NASA said it hoped the launch would help fulfill "Japan's hope for an out-of-this-world space laboratory," as the shuttle delivers state-of-the-art equipment to conduct experiments in the vacuum of space.

The shuttle and its seven-member crew is expected to reach the International Space Station on Friday, where they are to complete the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory.

The six Americans and one Canadian onboard Endeavour is scheduled to install a platform on the ISS for astronauts to conduct the experiments 350 kilometers (220 miles) above Earth's surface.

The ISS should be completed in 2010, also the target date for the retirement of the US fleet of three space shuttles.

The crew includes Canadian Julie Payette, an electrical and information engineer who has been in space before and is the only woman on board.

She was the final astronaut to board Endeavour Wednesday, blowing a kiss to NASA TV cameras before stepping through the cockpit hatch.

American aerospace engineer Tim Kopra, 46, will replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, spending several months aboard the orbiting station.

He would be the latest addition to the permanent crew of the ISS, which is a joint collaboration between 16 different countries.

earlier related report
Endeavour given 'go forecast' for launch
Weather conditions were looking favorable less than an hour before Wednesday's scheduled launch of the Endeavour space shuttle, a meteorologist at Cape Canaveral said.

"All is green for the weather for now," said a cautiously optimistic Scott McCormick.

With about 20 minutes to go before liftoff, NASA gave a "go forecast," with chief meteorologist Kathy Winters saying there was a 90 percent chance of favorable conditions for the launch.

But there is no done deal in Florida, where afternoon weather conditions during the summer season are notoriously fast-changing.

The shuttle was preparing for blastoff at 6:03 pm (2203 GMT), in what is the sixth attempt on the heels of a stream of weather woes and technical troubles.

The shuttle is to carry seven crew members to the orbiting International Space Station where they are to complete the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory.

Endeavour's launch has been scrubbed three times since Saturday due to bad weather. Two earlier attempts in June were aborted after potentially hazardous fuel leaks were discovered, apparently caused by a misaligned plate linking a hydrogen gas vent line with the external fuel tank.

earlier related report
Astronauts board Endeavour for sixth launch attempt
Astronauts on Wednesday once again strapped into the Endeavour as NASA prepared for a sixth time to launch the space shuttle after bad weather and technical trouble blighted five previous attempts.

Fueling of Endeavour's massive external fuel tank, which began at 8:38 am (1238 GMT), showed no early signs of problems, but experts noted that the same rainy weather systems that hampered prior attempts continue to linger in the area.

"The weather is looking better but I am being a little bit optimistic -- it's about the same as we had over the last couple of days," said launch integration manager Mike Moses.

Just as members of the crew clad in their bright-orange jumpsuits were entering the cockpit hatch, NASA acknowledged that a storm cell northeast of the launchpad prompted a lightning warning slightly more than two hours before liftoff.

The US space agency said on its website that the storms were forecast to move away from pad 39A by the launch time scheduled for 6:03 pm (2203 GMT).

"Hopefully the weather will cooperate today and we'll move this thing out of here," shuttle program mechanical technician Timothy Seymour said.

The shuttle is to carry seven crew members to the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) where they are to complete the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory.

Endeavour's launch has been scrubbed three times since Saturday due to inclement weather. Two earlier attempts in June were aborted after potentially hazardous fuel leaks were discovered, apparently caused by a misaligned plate linking a hydrogen gas vent line with the external fuel tank.

Florida's summer weather is often unstable in the afternoon, with violent storms and heavy rains that can prevent launches.

The previous lightning storms and fuel tank problems left the cash-strapped US space agency footing 4.5 million dollars in extra costs, as officials kept their fingers crossed that they would finally have a success.

"The cost of a scrub is approximately one million dollars," said spokesman Allard Beutel at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Along with the cost of filling, draining and then refilling the external tank so many times with specialized liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel, expenses also skyrocketed due to overtime pay for NASA employees and other workers at the space centers here.

But Beutel said the added costs were "marginal" in NASA's overall operating budget. The agency says Endeavour alone, built to replace the shuttle Challenger, cost some 1.7 billion dollars.

In addition to the potential Wednesday blast-off, a launch was also being considered for Thursday, the last possible date before interfering with the July 24 lift-off of the Russian cargo craft Progress to the ISS, Moses said.

A Thursday launch date would force NASA to abandon one of five spacewalks planned for Endeavour's mission.

If the shuttle does not take off on Wednesday or Thursday, the next launch window would begin on July 26.

Endeavour's crew of six Americans and one Canadian is scheduled to install a platform on the ISS for astronauts to conduct experiments in the vacuum of space, 350 kilometers (220 miles) above Earth's surface.

The ISS should be completed in 2010, also the target date for the retirement of the US fleet of three space shuttles.

The crew includes Canadian Julie Payette, an electrical and information engineer who has been in space before and is the only woman on board. She was the final astronaut to board Endeavour Wednesday, blowing a kiss to NASA TV cameras before stepping through the cockpit hatch.

American aerospace engineer Tim Kopra, 46, will replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, spending several months aboard the orbiting station.

He would be the latest addition to the permanent crew of the ISS, which is a joint collaboration between 16 different countries.

NASA has been extra cautious about conditions for the exit and return of space shuttle missions since the Columbia blew apart some 20,000 meters (65,500 feet) above the Earth in 2003 as it was returning from a 16-day space mission to land in Florida.

A chunk of insulation that broke off from the shuttle's external fuel tank during takeoff had gouged Columbia's left wing heat shield, allowing superheated gases to melt the shuttle's internal structure, leading to its explosion and the death of its seven astronauts.

The Columbia tragedy was the second shuttle accident since the program was launched in 1981. On January 28, 1986 the Challenger shuttle blew up 73 seconds after liftoff, also killing seven astronauts on board.

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