List of Vega Launches
About the Vega
The Arianespace commercial launcher family was expanded in 2012 with the addition of the Vega, a next-generation vehicle for flights with small- to medium-sized satellite payloads. This four-stage launcher – a European Space Agency (ESA) program – is expected to continue to carry the growing number of small scientific spacecraft and other lighter-weight payloads under development or planned worldwide. It’s target payload lift capability is 1,500 kg on missions to a 700-km circular orbit. To meet the rapidly increasing small satellite market for institutional and commercial needs, Arianespace offers shared payload opportunities on the Vega with the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS). This concept – involving multiple small satellites that are from 1 kg to 500 kg being flown together with the objective of reducing the launch cost – was created with the support of the European Space Agency and Vega prime contractor Avio. The satellite dispenser is an ESA product made by Avio under the leadership of the European Space Agency and it’s produced by the Czech company, SAB Aerospace s.r.o. Satellite integration can be accomplished for the first time in Europe (at the Czech Republic). In 2021, Arianespace plans to revise the Vega to have additional payload capacity, and they will call it the Vega C. During this time, however, they are working on making sure the anomaly on its most recent launch does not reoccur.[1]
Launch history
| Number | Outcome | Payload | Date | Rocket name | Notes | Firsts and lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Success | Proba-V, VNREDSat-1, and ESTCube-1 | Tuesday, May 7, 2013 | Vega | First Vega launch. First Vega launch with 3 payloads. | |
| 2 | Success | DZZ-HR | Tuesday, April 29, 2014 | Vega | First Vega launch with one payload | |
| 3 | Success | Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) | Wednesday, February 11, 2015 | Vega | ||
| 4 | Success | Sentinel-2A | Monday, June 22, 2015 | Vega | Very important launch. Sent to study rising sea levels. If it failed, the next attempt would be in 5 years (2020). | |
| 5 | Success | LISA Pathfinder | Wednesday, December 2, 2015 | Vega | ||
| 6 | Success | PerúSAT-1, SkySat-4, SkySat-5, SkySat-6, and SkySat-7 | Thursday, September 15, 2016 | Vega | First launch with 5 payloads onboard. | |
| 7 | Success | GÖKTÜRK-1 | Monday, December 5, 2016 | Vega | ||
| 8 | Success | Sentinel-2B | Monday, March 6, 2017 | Vega | Very important launch. Sent to study rising sea levels. If it failed, the next chance they would have to try again would be in 5 years (2022). | |
| 9 | Success | OPTSAT-3000, Venus | Tuesday, August 1, 2017 | Vega | First Vega launch with 2 payloads onboard. | |
| 10 | Success | MOHAMMED VI - A satellite | Tuesday, November 7, 2017 | Vega | ||
| 11 | Success | Aeolus | Wednesday, August 22, 2018 | Vega | ||
| 12 | Success | MOHAMMED VI - B satellite | Tuesday, November 20, 2018 | Vega | ||
| 13 | Success | PRISMA | Thursday, March 21, 2019 | Vega | ||
| 14 | Failure | FalconEye1 | Wednesday, July 10, 2019 | Vega | Exploded during first stage flight. | First Vega failure |
| 15 | Success | 50+ satellites | Wednesday, September 2, 2020 | Vega | Return to flight. | First launch with 50+ satellites |
| 16 | Failure | SEOSAT-Ingeniuo,TARANIS | Monday, November 16, 2020 | Vega | Deorbited during the coast phase of stage 4. Most recent launch. |
Future launches
| Number | Outcome | Payload | Date | Rocket name | Notes | Firsts and lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Planned | Pleiades Neo 1 | Sunday, January 31, 2021 | Vega | Planned return to flight | |
| 18 | Planned | Ceres | Tuesday, March 30, 2021 | Vega | Last Vega launch. | |
| 19 | Planned | LARES-2 | Monday, May 31, 2021 | Vega-C | First Vega-C launch. | |
| 20 | Planned | 2 x Pleiades Neo | Wednesday, June 30, 2021 | Vega-C | ||
| 21 | Planned | CSG-2 | Saturday, July 31, 2021 | Vega-C | ||
| 22 | Planned | 2 x Pleiades Neo | Saturday, July 31, 2021 | Vega-C | ||
| 23 | Planned | KOMPSAT-7 | Tuesday, November 30, 2021 | Vega-C | Last planned launch |
References
- ↑ "Vega". Arianespace. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
- ↑ "Launch log". Arianespace. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
- ↑ "Arianespace". Space Launch Schedule. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
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