It’s not just Ariane rockets that are returning to Kourou. After the first flight of Ariane 6 last July, the Vega rockets and their more powerful variant Vega C want to follow the same path. Like Ariane, the launchers from the Italian manufacturer Avio have experienced their share of difficulties. And are preparing to return to service.
On the night of September 3 to 4, at 3:50 a.m. Paris time (10:50 p.m. local time), a Vega rocket is due to take off from the Guiana Space Center (CSG). Its mission: to place an Earth observation satellite on behalf of the European Union, the Sentinel-2C, into polar orbit at an altitude of 780 km. Another modernized variant, the Vega C, is due to take off in November.
Following the setbacks encountered by the Vega family of launchers, the European Space Agency and Arianespace are banking on the success of these upcoming launches. “This launch, after the successful flight of Ariane 6 on July 9, shows that European launchers are back”said Stéphane Israël, Arianespace’s CEO. These successes are all the more important because these “small” rockets position European space for the launch of satellites and other payloads of around 2 tonnes, whereas Ariane 6 is optimized for launches of 10 tonnes.
Last flight to Vega, new departure for Vega C
The stakes are different for Vega and Vega C, two rockets built by the Italian manufacturer Avio under the direction of ESA and the Italian space agency. With its next mission, VV24, the Vega rocket must successfully launch after taking off for the first time from the CSG in February 2012. This is its 22nd and final flight. Its career has been tarnished by two close failures, in July 2019 and November 2020.
The Vega C rocket must, for its part, successfully return to flight. After a successful maiden flight in July 2022, the rocket had failed on its first commercial flight the following December by putting Airbus Defence & Space satellites into the wrong orbit. Analysis of the accident showed that the blunder was due to a faulty nozzle on the second stage engine.
The part has since been redesigned and successfully tested last May. “A second test will be carried out at the beginning of October. This gives us great confidence that we will be able to return to flight with Vega C from the end of November,” “This is a very important step towards achieving this,” says Toni Tolker-Nielsen, Director of Space Transportation at ESA.
Optimized construction to reduce costs
Vega C brings significant improvements compared to Vega. On the one hand, its transport capacity reaches 2.3 tons, against 1.5 tons for Vega. On the other hand, it was designed to bring the maximum of industrial synergies: the main stage of Vega C corresponds to an Ariane 6 booster. Thus with a 60% higher capacity, Vega C costs the same price as a Vega.
Following the agreements of last year’s Seville meeting (which brought together European ministers in charge of space), Avio was entrusted with the commercialization of Vega rockets previously carried out by Arianespace. Vega C is due to return to flight with the launch of the European Union’s 1-C satellite in November.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
