We got a glimpse this week of where the rocket is heading after research ministers approved a 600m euros programme of developments at their European Space Agency council meeting in Naples.

BBC: Ariane rocket ready to do battle

Research groups around the world are devising strategies to catch old rocket bodies and satellites, to pull them out of orbit.

BBC: Space debris collisions expected to rise

It is launching a fleet of spy satellites and plans to test a rocket that can reenter the atmosphere--officially, for space shuttle research.

FORBES: Japan Weapons, Inc.

Friday's launch was part of what Esa calls the Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment (Verta) programme - a sequence of flights intended to demonstrate the rocket's capabilities whilst at the same time moving it towards full commercial service.

BBC: Esa's Vega rocket puts Proba-V vegetation mission in orbit

Vasily Moroz from the Russian Space Research Centre said the two sides had considered using a US-built probe with a Russian booster rocket and descent module, but that the project was drawn to a halt by funding issues.

BBC: Mars rover (Nasa)

Eventually the company is hoping to use its research to create orbiting systems that can fling other satellites into deep space, but seeing how the last Dnepr rocket crashed and burned on liftoff in 2006, Team Tether is probably best off taking this endeavor one step at a time.

ENGADGET: Inspector Gadget tackles 'The Case of the Experimental Space Tether'