Vega (rocket)
Vega (Italian: Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata, or French: Vecteur européen de génération avancée, or English: European Vector of Advanced Generation, meaning "Advanced generation European carrier rocket") is an expendable launch system in use by Arianespace jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Development began in 1998 and the first launch took place from the Guiana Space Centre on 13 February 2012.
Vega's VV05 before liftoff with Sentinel-2A | |
| Function | Small-lift launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Avio |
| Country of origin | Italy, European Space Agency |
| Cost per launch | US$37 million |
| Size | |
| Height | 30 m (98 ft) |
| Diameter | 3 m (9.8 ft) |
| Mass | 137,000 kg (302,000 lb) |
| Stages | 4 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to polar orbit (700 km, i 90°) | |
| Mass | 1,430 kg (3,150 lb) |
| Payload to elliptic orbit (1500 × 200 km, i 5.4°) | |
| Mass | 1,963 kg (4,328 lb) |
| Payload to SSO (400 km) | |
| Mass | 1,450 kg (3,200 lb) |
| Associated rockets | |
| Comparable | |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Active |
| Launch sites | Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELV |
| Total launches |
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| Success(es) |
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| Failure(s) |
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| First flight | 13 February 2012 |
| Last flight | 9 October 2023 |
| First stage – P80 | |
| Height | 11.7 m (38 ft) |
| Diameter | 3 m (9.8 ft) |
| Empty mass | 7,330 kg (16,160 lb) |
| Gross mass | 95,695 kg (210,971 lb) |
| Powered by | off |
| Maximum thrust | 2,261 kN (508,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 280 s (2.7 km/s) |
| Burn time | 107 seconds |
| Propellant | HTPB (solid) |
| Second stage – Zefiro 23 | |
| Height | 8.39 m (27.5 ft) |
| Diameter | 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Empty mass | 2,850 kg (6,280 lb) |
| Gross mass | 28,850 kg (63,600 lb) |
| Powered by | off |
| Maximum thrust | 871 kN (196,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 287.5 s (2.819 km/s) |
| Burn time | 71.6 seconds |
| Propellant | HTPB (solid) |
| Third stage – Zefiro 9 | |
| Height | 4.12 m (13.5 ft) |
| Diameter | 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Empty mass | 1,315 kg (2,899 lb) |
| Gross mass | 11,815 kg (26,048 lb) |
| Powered by | off |
| Maximum thrust | 260 kN (58,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 296 s (2.90 km/s) |
| Burn time | 117 seconds |
| Propellant | HTPB (solid) |
| Upper stage – AVUM | |
| Height | 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Diameter | 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Empty mass | 147 kg (324 lb) |
| Gross mass | 697 kg (1,537 lb) |
| Powered by | 1 × RD-843 (RD-868P) |
| Maximum thrust | 2.42 kN (540 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 315.5 s (3.094 km/s) |
| Burn time | 317 seconds |
| Propellant | UDMH / N2O4 |
It is designed to launch small payloads – 300 to 2500 kg satellites for scientific and Earth observation missions to polar and low Earth orbits. The reference Vega mission is a polar orbit bringing a spacecraft of 1500 kg to an altitude of 700 km.
The rocket, named after Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, is a single-body launcher (no strap-on boosters) with three solid rocket stages: the P80 first stage, the Zefiro 23 second stage, and the Zefiro 9 third stage. The upper module is a liquid rocket called AVUM. The improved version of the P80 stage, the P120C, will also be used as the side boosters of the Ariane 6. Italy is the leading contributor to the Vega program (65%), followed by France (13%). Other participants include Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.