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Europe's Vega rocket aces its final mission (video)
By Mike Wall,
2 days ago
Europe's Vega rocket aced its final mission tonight (Sept. 4).
The Vega , which is operated by France-based company Arianespace , lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana tonight (Sept. 4) at 9:50 p.m. EDT (10:50 p.m. local time in Kourou; 0150 GMT on Sept. 5), carrying the Sentinel-2C Earth-observing satellite skyward. Launch had been scheduled for yesterday (Sept. 3), but electrical issues with ground links scuttled that try .
Sentinel-2C was deployed into orbit 57.5 minutes after launch as planned, prompting applause and handshakes in mission control.
An Arianespace Vega rocket launches the Sentinel-2C Earth-observation satellite on Sept. 4, 2024. It was the final mission for the standard version of the Vega. (Image credit: Arianespace)
Vega stands about 100 feet (30 meters) tall and can deliver 3,300 pounds (1,500 kilograms) of payload to a circular orbit 435 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth, according to Arianespace's spec sheet .
The rocket debuted in February 2012 and has now flown a total of 22 missions, 20 of them successful. Tonight's mission was the last ride for the standard version of the Vega; Arianespace is transitioning its smallsat operations to the new, more powerful Vega C.
The Vega C has launched twice to date — in July 2022, then again in December of that year. The first mission was successful but the second failed due to a flaw in the rocket's second-stage nozzle . The Vega C is scheduled to return to flight late this year.
The final Vega launch services Sentinel-2, a mission run by Europe's Copernicus Earth-observation program . Sentinel-2 uses twin satellites — currently, Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B — to study our planet from 488 miles (786 km) up, collecting "high-resolution optical imagery for a wide range of applications including land, water and atmospheric monitoring," according to an ESA mission description .
Sentinel-2C is designed to replace Sentinel-2A, which launched atop a Vega rocket in June 2015. Sentinel-2B will be replaced by Sentinel-2D, which does not yet have a firm launch date.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sept. 3 with news of the scrubbed attempt on that day due to electrical issues. It was updated again at 10:05 p.m. ET on Sept. 4 with news of successful liftoff, then again at 10:50 p.m. ET with news of satellite deployment.
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