Vega (original) (raw)


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Vega Upper Stage
Vega Upper Stage
Credit: NASA

Primarily Italian all-solid propellant launch vehicle. After years of furious debate, a $173 million development program began, 52% funded by Italy and 34% by France. As of the first firing of the P80 first stage motor at the end of 2006, first flight had slipped into 2008 from a 2007 original planned date.

Status: Active. First Launch: 2012-02-13. Last Launch: 2018-11-21. Number: 13 . Payload: 1,500 kg (3,300 lb). Thrust: 3,040.00 kN (683,410 lbf). Gross mass: 137,000 kg (302,000 lb). Height: 30.00 m (98.00 ft). Diameter: 3.00 m (9.80 ft). Apogee: 700 km (430 mi).

Italy long tried to carve a niche for itself as a supplier of solid-propellant orbital launch vehicles, beginning with the San Marco Scout program in the 1960's. The hoped-for Advanced Scout 2 never materialized, and in the mid-1990s, the Italian Space Agency turned to a concept called VEGA (Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata). This went through several versions:

Although BPD conducted the first static firing of a P16 Zefiro on June 22, 1998, the collapse of the space launch market, the multiple Ariane 5 failures, and the costs of the International Space Station put the Vega very far back on ESA's priority list. By the end of 2006 all of the Vega's solid stages had been test fired, but the AUVM upper stage was becoming the pacing item.

LEO Payload: 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) to a 700 km orbit at 98.00 degrees.


More at: Vega.


Family: all-solid, orbital launch vehicle. Country: Italy. Engines: RD-861G. Spacecraft: Almasat, IXV, LARES, LARES Support System, LEOStar-2, Sentinel, PROBA, Cubesat, Myriade. Launch Sites: Kourou ZLV, Kourou ELV. Stages: P80, Zefiro 23, Zefiro 9. Bibliography: 572.



2012 February 13 - . 10:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2013 May 7 - . 02:06 GMT - . Launch Site: Xichang. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2014 April 30 - . 01:38 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2015 February 11 - . 13:40 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2015 June 23 - . 01:51 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2015 December 3 - . 04:04 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2016 September 16 - . 01:43 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2016 December 5 - . 13:51 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2017 March 7 - . 01:49 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2017 August 2 - . 01:57 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2017 November 8 - . 01:41 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2018 August 22 - . 21:19 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.


2018 November 21 - . 01:41 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.



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