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Tuesday March 11, 7:55 PM Shuttle Endeavour blasts off carrying Japanese lab to space station Photo: AFP CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) - Space shuttle Endeavour soared into space Tuesday, carrying parts of a Japanese laboratory that is to become the largest and last research module of the International Space Station. With its installation Japan gains a foothold on the ISS alongside the United States, Russia and Europe, whose laboratory Columbus was delivered to the station in February. Endeavour roared into space at 0628 GMT Tuesday, in a rare night launch from the Kennedy Space Center here -- its motors and booster rockets casting a glare bright as midday along the Florida coast for about 30 seconds. But the shuttle quickly punched through low cloud cover and disappeared into the darkness, attaining a speed of about 2,425 kilometers (1,507 miles) per hour -- roughly twice the speed of sound -- in just 53 seconds. Two minutes after launch Endeavour successfully jettisoned its twin solid rocket boosters, and less than seven minutes later safely entered Earth's orbit and began its chase of the ISS, for a rendezvous expected Wednesday. Just before reaching orbit, Endeavour separated from its massive external fuel tank, which fell into the atmosphere and disintegrated. "The vehicle is in great shape, the weather is go ... so on the behalf of the Kennedy Space Center launch team I wish you good luck, Godspeed, see you back in 16 days," launch director Mike Leinback told the shuttle crew as he gave the green light for liftoff. Shortly after takeoff officials observed two technical problems but stressed that they posed no danger to the seven-man crew or mission. For unknown reasons, a secondary system took over climate control of the shuttle's cabin, and instruments controlling the shuttle's thrusters malfunctioned, NASA official LeRoy Caine said. Endeavour's crew intends to install the first stage of the Japanese laboratory named Kibo, a micro-gravity research facility which aims to open a vital new stage in deeper space exploration. When all three stages are installed, Kibo, which means "hope" in Japanese, will complete the research nucleus of the ISS along with the American, Russian and European laboratories. The 16-day mission is the longest at the ISS and will see the crew, which includes Japanese astronaut Takao Doi, venture out on five space walks, totaling about 30 hours of work. Kibo will be the largest by far of the four research modules on board the station and represents Japan's most important offering to the project, to which the island nation has contributed a total of 10 billion dollars. As with the Columbus lab, the installation of Kibo on the ISS was delayed when the February 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster put all launches by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) on hold for two years. Several of Kibo's experiments, focusing in part on medicine, biology, biotechnology and communications, are seen as crucial steps in preparing further missions to the Moon and even human missions to Mars. The first stage being delivered is ELM-PS, a 4.2-ton logistics module measuring 3.9 meters (12.8 feet) long and 4.4 meters (14.4 feet) in diameter. Its key component, the Pressurized Module (PM) with a remote-control robotic arm, is expected to be transported to the ISS on space shuttle Discovery due to launch May 25. The PM is a massive 11.2-meter-long (36.7 feet) cylinder weighing 15.9 tons. The final Kibo installment, an inter-orbit communications system unit called the Exposed Facility, is due for delivery in March 2009. Endeavour will also deliver a piece of hardware from Canada -- a component for the robotic arm named Dextre, which is used for delicate tasks normally reserved for an astronaut on a space walk. Commander Dominic Gorie, 50, leads a team comprising co-pilot Gregory Johnson, 45, mission specialists Rick Linnehan, 50, Robert Behnken, 37, Mike Foreman, 50, Garret Reisman, 40, and Doi, 53, from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Four of the astronauts will be making their maiden voyages into space. After this mission NASA plans another 10, including four more in 2008, to complete construction of the ISS by September 30, 2010, when NASA's three-shuttle fleet is to be retired. The ISS is a 100-billion-dollar project involving 17 countries including 11 members of the European Space Agency (ESA).