ESA Vega-C LARES-2 (Maiden flight)
Vega-C
Status
Success
Date
13 JUL 2022
13:13
Launch Provider
European Space Agency
Launch Pad
Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV)
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
Mission Overview
Maiden flight of the Vega-C launch vehicle, carrying the LARES-2 passive satellite. It is a 40 cm diameter sphere with laser mirrors to study the Earth gravitational field and relativistic effects. Also onboard are six European research cubesats.
Rocket
Vega-C
Mission Type
Earth Science
Orbit
Medium Earth Orbit
Stages
4
Livestream
Rocket Details
Vega-C is a single-body rocket nearly 35 m high with that weighs 210 tonnes on the launch pad. As with Vega, its main elements are three solid-propellant stages, an upper stage powered by a reignitable liquid-propellant engine and a payload fairing. Vega-C's P120C first stage replaces Vega’s smaller P80 to provide a significant increase in thrust at liftoff. It is also used as boosters (2 or 4) for the Ariane 6 rocket.
Height
34.8 m
Diameter
3 m
Launch Mass
210 T
Thrust
2,974 kN
