Arianespace’s next mission, VV25, will launch from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, using a Vega C rocket. This mission will deploy the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at an altitude of approximately 700 km. The spacecraft is set to separate from the launcher 1 hour and 43 minutes after lift-off.

Sentinel-1C is part of the Copernicus program, the European Union’s flagship Earth observation initiative. Managed by the European Commission and supported by the European Space Agency (ESA), Copernicus provides free, continuous, and reliable Earth observation data to public authorities, businesses, and individuals worldwide, serving as the most advanced system of its kind.

The Sentinel-1 mission features a constellation of two polar-orbiting satellites equipped with C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This technology enables all-weather, day-and-night imaging by operating at wavelengths unaffected by clouds or darkness. The data supports applications like maritime surveillance, land monitoring, and disaster management.

SAR imagery is particularly effective for tracking land subsidence and structural damage. With enhanced interferometric capabilities, Sentinel-1 satellites can detect subtle ground movements, offering vital insights for urban planning, earthquake monitoring, and geohazard assessments. This data also aids mining, geology, and city planning through detailed subsidence risk evaluations.

Thales Alenia Space, the prime contractor for Sentinel-1C, delivered the satellite to French Guiana on October 8, 2024. It is undergoing a series of rigorous pre-launch tests leading to the Launch Readiness Review (LRR), scheduled for December 2, 2024. A successful LRR will clear the way for the mission’s launch sequence.

Courtesy of Arianespace

Vega

Vega (Italian: Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata, French: Vecteur européen de génération avancée, literal translation: Vector European Generation Advanced) joined the family of launch vehicles at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in 2012. It has demonstrated impressive capabilities ranging from equatorial to Sun-synchronous orbits, from orbital to suborbital missions, from single to multiple payloads.

Unlike most small rockets, Vega is able to lift payloads ranging from a single satellite up to one main satellite plus additional small satellites and place them into separate orbits on a single mission.

Vega is designed to deliver about 1500 kg into a 700 km-altitude circular orbit at 90° inclination. This makes Vega the ideal launch vehicle for most scientific and Earth observation missions. Launching into an equatorial orbit enabled Vega to carry the maximum payload capacity of 2 tonnes with ESA’s experimental IXV spaceplane.

Vega Elements

Vega is a 3 m-diameter single-body vehicle, standing 30 m tall with a liftoff mass of 137 tonnes. It has three solid-propellant stages and a liquid-propellant upper module for attitude and orbit control as well as satellite release.

Vega History

Vega officially became an ESA programme in June 1998, when the Agency inherited the small-launcher programme of Italy’s ASI space agency.

Following Vega’s debut on 13 February 2012, ESA ensured a smooth transition of Vega from development to exploitation. This included securing the initial exploitation of Vega by supporting the development of complementary technical advances and demonstrating a range of capabilities and flexibility over five more launches.

Vega moved to full commercial exploitation in December 2015.

At the same time, ESA refined and improved the launch system configuration and operations. This lowered costs mainly by speeding up the launch campaign.

The Vega launches in 2015 (IXV, Sentinel-2A and LISA Pathfinder) displayed the capacity of the system to reach three missions per year, providing confidence to customers and helping Arianespace to maintain its lead in this market segment.

In a proof of concept flight in 2020, Vega demonstrated a new modular payload dispenser called the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) designed to meet the need for affordable routine rideshare missions to space for multiple small satellites.

Caption courtesy of ESA.

The Ensemble de Lancement Vega (ELV) pad at the Centre Spatial Guyanais (Guiana Space Centre) was previously used to launch the Europa, Ariane 1, Ariane 2, and Ariane 3 rockets under a different name.

It hosted its first launch on November 5th, 1971 when a Europa rocket launched the STV-4 payload. It was used for the final time for an Ariane 3 rocket in 1989, after which it went unused until 2012 when Vega began flying.

Located in French Guiana, the ELV pad is part of the French and European spaceport located near Kourou on the northern tip of South America.

Guiana Space Centre

The space center has been operational since 1968 and has hosted launches for the European Space Agency (ESA), the French National Centre for Space Studies, and commercial companies Arianespace and Azercosmos.

A total of 9 different rocket types have launched from the Guiana Space Centre, including three active rockets and six retired vehicles.

The current rockets of the Guiana Space Centre include the Ariane 5 for heavy payloads, the Russian-provided Soyuz 2 for medium-mass satellites, and Vega for smaller spacecraft.

The spaceport is also preparing for the Ariane 6, Vega C, and Vega E rockets currently under development that will launch from the space centre.

Photo: European Space Agency - S. Corvaja