October 10, 2023

Vega

The lightest of European launchers, Vega stands out for its accuracy in putting small payloads into orbit. It is therefore very popular for scientific and Earth observation satellites.

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Vega is the European Space Agency’s light launcher. It is the smallest launcher to lift off from the GSC. Its lift-off mass is 138 tonnes, compared to 780 tonnes for Ariane 5 and 380 tonnes for Soyuz.

The launcher was designed to meet the growing demand for smaller satellites that do not require a heavy launcher like Ariane 5. Vega is capable of putting payloads of up to 2,500 kg into low Earth orbit at an altitude of 800 km.

Developed at Italy’s initiative, Vega lifted off for the first time from the Guiana Space Centre on 13 February 2012. Seven ESA member countries participated in the programme (Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden) and contributed more than €450 million to cover Vega's development costs. The Italian company Avio built the launcher in French Guiana.

A launcher for science

Although not specifically designed for scientific satellites, Vega’s specifications make it an ideal launcher for scientific missions targeting the low Earth orbit, as shown by these recent missions:

  • IXV (2015), atmospheric re-entry technology demonstrator
  • LISA Pathfinder (2015), a demonstrator for gravitational wave measuring instruments
  • Sentinel-2A and 2B (2015 and 2017), satellites to monitor the environment
  • ADM-Aeolus (2018), satellite to study Earth's winds on a global scale
  • Prisma (2019), a new generation Earth observation satellite
 

Did you know?

Vega is the acronym for Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata. In Italian, this name means “Advanced Generation European Rocket”. Vega is also the name of the second brightest star in the northern hemisphere.

Vega in figures

Technical specifications

Vega is a four-stage, single-body launcher.

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Stages 1, 2 and 3 provide the main power for launching Vega. They are loaded with solid propellant (powder). The P80 (the first stage) is produced at the Guiana Space Centre. The Zefiro 23 and Zefiro 9 are built in Italy and are shipped to Guyana by sea.

The AVUM stage provides propulsion for Vega, after the burnout and jettison of the first three stages. It is re-ignitable, and fine-tunes the position of the satellite in its target orbit.

The vehicle equipment bay is the launcher's electronic brain. It houses Vega's monitoring and guidance system.

The fairing is the top end of the launcher. It protects the satellites that are placed inside.

To find out more about the Vega launcher, visit the CNES website.

Assembly and preparation

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Arrival of the launcher components

As with Ariane 5, several Vega components arrive by ship. They are then transported directly to the Vega launch complex.
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Assembly of the stages

The P80, Vega's first stage, is in the launch zone. The stages are then successively hoisted up and mounted at the top of the launcher: first the Zefiro 23, then the Zefiro 9, the AVUM and finally the satellite under the fairing.

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filling

The fuelling of Vega starts six days before the launch and takes place over a period of  three days: one day per propellant.

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lift-off

The preparation operations are completed. A few hours before T0, the gantry moves away from the launcher: Vega is ready for lift-off!

Launch sequence

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Launcher lift-off

As Vega is a single-body launcher, its stages only ignite when the previous stage has shut down and separated. For lift-off, the P80 is ignited. A little less than two minutes later, this first stage separates from the launcher, having consumed all its fuel. The Zefiro 23 stage then takes over, also for just under two minutes of thrust. Once empty, it is ejected and the third stage, the Zefiro 9, ignites. The Zefiro 9’s thrust continues for about 2.5 minutes, during which time the fairing is jettisoned and the launcher leaves the Earth’s atmosphere.

Entry into orbit and end of mission

The final stage, the Avum, starts its mission after 6 minutes of flight. It will put the satellite in its orbit. With its re-ignitable stage, it can alternate between the thrust phases and the ballistic phases to precisely adjust its trajectory. Once the satellite(s) have been put into orbit, the Avum de-orbits so as not to create more space debris.

Launch facilities

Vega has its own facilities at the GSC. Located in the Vega Launch Complex, they reuse part of the former Ariane 1, 2 and 3 launch zone facilities, adapted for the Italian launcher.

launch History

DateFlight name
PayloadTarget orbitMission status
13/02/2012        VV01LARES + ALMASAT + 7 cubesatsBasseSuccess
07/05/2013VV02PROBA-V + VNREDSAT-1 + ESTCUBE-1HéliosynchroneSuccess
30/04/2014VV03KazEOSat-1HéliosynchroneSuccess
11/02/2015VV04IXVVol suborbitalSuccess
23/06/2015 VV05Sentinel-2AHéliosynchroneSuccess
03/12/2015VV06LISA PathfinderPoint de Lagrange 1Success
16/09/2016VV07PeruSAT-1 + 4 satellites SkySatHéliosynchroneSuccess
05/12/2016VV08Göktürk-1HéliosynchroneSuccess
07/03/2017VV09Sentinel-2BHéliosynchroneSuccess
02/08/2017VV10Opsat 3000 + VenµsHéliosynchroneSuccess
08/11/2017VV11MOHAMMED VI-AHéliosynchroneSuccess
22/08/2018VV12ADM-AeolusHéliosynchroneSuccess
21/11/2018VV13MOHAMMED VI-BHéliosynchroneSuccess
22/03/2019VV14PrismaHéliosynchroneSuccess
10/06/2019VV15FalconEye1HéliosynchroneFail
03/09/2020VV16SSMS (53 micro- et nano-satellites)HéliosynchroneSuccess
17/11/2020VV17Taranis + SEOSAT-IngenioHéliosynchroneFail
28/04/2021VV18Pléiades Néo 3 + 5 micro- et nanosatellitesHéliosynchroneSuccess
16/08/2021VV19Pléiades Néo 4 + 4 micro- et nanosatellitesHéliosynchroneSuccess
16/11/2021VV20CERES (3 satellites)HéliosynchroneSuccess
08/10/2023VV23Formosat-7R Triton + Theos-2 + 10 nanosats     HéliosynchroneSuccess

Find out more about all the launches

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