Europe's first-generation Vega rocket has launched a payload into space for the last time.
Vega was launched early this morning from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying Sentinel-2C, an Earth observation platform that will now complement Europe's Copernicus satellite fleet.
LAUNCH of #Sentinel2 C on the last Vega rocket from @EuropeSpacePort in Kourou, French Guiana on September 5, 2024! pic.twitter.com/QzAZPkqBTr
— European Space Agency (@esa) September 5, 2024
The European Space Agency (ESA) described the launch as a “dignified” farewell for a rocket whose main task was to put small Earth observation satellites into polar orbits.
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Vega was built by the Italian space company Avio, was 30 meters high, weighed 137 tons and had three solid fuel stages and a fourth stage with liquid fuel.
One of the rocket’s most important missions took place in 2020, when it was launched as part of the Mission service for small spacecraft Proof of feasibility Flight.
In 2015, Vega conducted a reentry demonstration attempt that showed that Europe has the technology to launch a vehicle into space and return it safely to Earth. This mission was a precursor to Space travelera reusable robotic laboratory spacecraft scheduled to launch next year.
Now, after 12 years of service and 20 flights, Avio is replacing Vega with its big brother — Vega-C. This rocket promises greater payload capacity at lower cost, but is currently grounded after exploded on his second start in 2022. Vega-C is scheduled to resume operations in November.
In competition with SpaceX
The decommissioning of Vega is a bittersweet moment for European spaceflight. While the launcher provided independent access to space for some important European missions, it never really reached commercial success.
It is a problem that plagues Vega-C and Europe's newest heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 6. This launch vehicle started a month ago after four years of delayThese setbacks forced Europe to award launch missions to Elon Musk's SpaceX.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 is the world's first reusable orbital rocket. Reusability allows the company to reuse the rocket's most expensive parts, which in turn reduces the cost of accessing space.
Neither Vega-C nor Ariane 6 are reusable. Given the growing competition, they may have difficulty finding their niche.
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