KOUROU, French Guiana, March 23 (BSS/AFP) - An automated craft laden with supplies for the International Space Station (ISS) headed into space on Friday in the heaviest launch ever undertaken by Europe, an AFP reporter saw.

The 20-tonne vessel, named after a 20th-century Italian physicist, Edoardo Amaldi, was taken aloft by a heavyweight version of the Ariane 5 launcher at 01:34 am (0434 GMT).