The shuttle rocketed into a clear blue sky late Friday and reached orbit less than nine minutes after liftoff.

"It's a very good day for Nasa and this nation's space programme," said Rex Geveden, Nasa associate administrator for space operations, speaking at a press conference after the blastoff.

"What a great way to start the year and this mission," gushed shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach. "It's a great launch, it's the first step in a very challenging mission."

A team of Nasa specialists studied the launch video, "and the preliminary word is that we lost no foam off, at least in the preliminary report," said shuttle programme manager Wayne Hale.