...the who's who,
and the what's what 
of the space industry

Space Careers

news Space News

Search News Archive

Title

Article text

Keyword

Vega-C set for inaugural launch

Written by  Thursday, 16 June 2022 05:10
Write a comment
Vega-C VV21 LARES-2 livery artists impression

ESA’s new medium-lift Vega-C rocket is nearly ready for its inaugural flight, with its four fully-stacked stages now ready for payload integration, final checks and launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. 

Flight VV21 will lift off as soon as 7 July, pending suitable conditions for launch.

CHALLENGING MISSION

As with any inaugural launch, this is a challenging mission. “Vega-C features major enhancements from Vega, both in the rocket and its ground infrastructure,” says Renato Lafranconi, Vega programmes manager. “We’ve developed a new configuration with significant changes to many features of a proven concept, but the goal is to deliver major improvements in performance and competitiveness.”

ESA’s Director of Space Transportation, Daniel Neuenschwander stresses that Vega-C will work alongside the Ariane 6 heavy lifter to ensure Europe maintains flexible, competitive – and, critically, autonomous – launch capabilities: “With Vega-C and Ariane 6, Europe will have a flexible, independent solution for a fast-changing launch market.

“And, these two systems are the foundation of a development plan that will serve European institutions and commercial partners, opening a new chapter of European services.”

ESA Member States participating in Vega-C are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.


Read more from original source...

You must login to post a comment.
Loading comment... The comment will be refreshed after 00:00.

Be the first to comment.

Interested in Space?

Hit the buttons below to follow us...