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Successful take-off for the new European rocket Vega-C which launched from its launch pad in Kourou in Guyana. A new launcher carrying seven microsatellites on their way to orbit.
The launcher carried seven small satellites, mainly university ones, because you never put a high-value payload on a first flight. All were placed perfectly into orbit, after a liftoff which took place without incident for the first mission of Vega-C.
This “C” is that of “consolidating”. The rocket is an improvement on the already venerable Vega rocket, one of those lightweight launchers that puts small satellites into orbit, mainly for climate observation. This new version is heavier, larger, more powerful, but also cheaper, promises the European Space Agency.
The other advantage and that it shares its central stage, the P120-C, with the future Ariane 6, for which it will serve as a booster. Here too, the objective is economic: using the same element for two different rockets makes it possible to produce more of them, and therefore to do so in series.
A question remains, however, for the near future of this new machine. The engine of its upper stage is built in Ukraine, in Dniepro, and the production lines have been stopped since the beginning of the war. ESA has some in reserve, but a solution will have to be found to continue the program.