After a slight delay from the scheduled time, the new ESA Vega-C rocket successfully launched this Wednesday from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 3:13 pm (Spanish peninsular time). This inaugural flight, called VV21, lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes from liftoff to payload release and upper stage engine burn.
Vega-C has significantly greater capabilities than its predecessor Vega, increasing performance from 1.5 to 2.3 tons in a 700 km polar reference orbit. The main payload was LARES-2, a satellite from a scientific mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) that has been placed in its intended orbit. Six CubeSats from France, Italy, and Slovenia were also transported as secondary payloads.
The total mass of the payload at liftoff was approximately 474 kg: 296 kg belonged to LARES-2 and the rest to the CubeSats, payload adapters, and transport structures.
The new launcher integrates a more powerful first stage, P120C, based on the Vega P80. This new engine will serve a dual purpose, with two or four units acting as boosters for the future Ariane 6. Sharing this component improves the industrial efficiency and profitability of both launchers. Above it, there is a new second stage, Zefiro-40, followed by the same Zefiro-9 third stage used in Vega. The reusable upper stage has also been improved: AVUM+, which has a greater liquid fuel capacity to carry payloads to multiple orbits based on mission requirements and to allow for longer operating time in space, enabling more extended missions.
With larger main stages and a larger fairing — doubling the payload volume compared to Vega — Vega-C measures 34.8 meters in height, almost five meters more than Vega. The new launcher configuration offers a significant improvement in launch system flexibility. Vega-C can orbit larger satellites, two main payloads, or accommodate various arrangements for shared missions. The next ESA Space Rider vehicle will be launched into orbit with Vega-C.
ESA’s Director of Space Transportation, Daniel Neuenschwander, overseeing launch operations from the mission control at the spaceport, highlighted, “Today we inaugurate a new era of European launch solutions, starting with Vega-C and complemented by Ariane 6”.
Regarding the payloads, the precise orbit trajectory of LARES-2 will be tracked by laser from ground stations. The goal is to measure the ‘frame-dragging effect,’ a distortion of spacetime caused by the rotation of a massive body like the Earth, as predicted by Einstein in his general theory of relativity. Its predecessor, similar LARES, was the main payload on Vega’s inaugural flight in 2012.
Of the six CubeSats, three are Italian: AstroBio CubeSat will test a solution for detecting biomolecules in space, Greencube will perform an experiment to grow plants in microgravity, and ALPHA aims to help understand phenomena related to Earth’s magnetosphere, such as the auroras.
The other three CubeSats, Trisat-R (Slovenia), MTCube-2 (France), and Celesta (France), will study the effects of a severe radiation environment on electronic systems.
Alongside the start of Vega-C operations, development work continues. Another variant, Vega-E, will offer a simplified architecture starting from 2026 by replacing both the third and fourth stages of Vega-C with a new cryogenic upper stage. The key to Vega-E lies in the M10 engine, manufactured in Europe, which uses more environmentally sustainable fuels —cryogenic liquid oxygen and methane— and also features an advanced pressure control system that allows for multiple stops and restarts in space. The main contractor, Avio, recently completed its first series of firing tests.
This inaugural flight VV21, managed by ESA, the owner of the Vega-C program and overseeing its development, paves the way for its operation by Arianespace and Avio. The development of Vega-C was agreed upon at a ministerial meeting in 2014 by the ESA member states participating in the program: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Referrer: MiMub in Spanish
