Vega (rocket)

Vega

Vega's VV05 before liftoff with Sentinel-2A
Function	Small-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Avio
Country of origin	Italy, European Space Agency[a]
Cost per launch	US$37 million [1]
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	Delta II 7420 Epsilon Minotaur IV Minotaur-C PSLV Rokot Soyuz-2-1v
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELV
Total launches	23 Vega: 21 Vega-C: 2
Success(es)	20 Vega: 19 Vega-C: 1
Failure(s)	3 Vega: 2 Vega-C: 1
First flight	13 February 2012 [1]
Last flight	9 October 2023
First stage – P80[2][3][4]
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)
Maximum thrust	2,261 kN (508,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	280 s (2.7 km/s)
Burn time	107 seconds
Propellant	HTPB / AP (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)
Maximum thrust	871 kN (196,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	287.5 s (2.819 km/s)
Burn time	71.6 seconds
Propellant	HTPB / AP (solid) [5]
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)
Maximum thrust	260 kN (58,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	296 s (2.90 km/s)
Burn time	117 seconds
Propellant	HTPB / AP (solid) [6]
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[7] (RD-868P)[8]
Maximum thrust	2.42 kN (540 lbf)
Specific impulse	315.5 s (3.094 km/s)
Burn time	317 seconds
Propellant	UDMH / N2O4
[edit on Wikidata]

Vega (Italian: Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata, or French: Vecteur européen de génération avancée, or English: European Vector of Advanced Generation,^[9] meaning "Advanced generation European carrier rocket")^[9] 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.^[4]

It is designed to launch small payloads – 300 to 2500 kg satellites for scientific and Earth observation missions to polar and low Earth orbits.^[10] 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,^[11] 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%).^[12] Other participants include Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.^[13]

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