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Vega
ESApod, audio and video from space
English - November 28, 2006 09:20 - 5 minutes - 30.3 MB Video - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingScience Technology science ariane astronauts astronomy black hole comet earth envisat ers-2 ground station Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
In 2008, Vega will place into orbit its first small satellite missions. The new launch vehicle's reference capability is to carry a spacecraft weighing 1.5 tonnes into a polar orbit with an altitude of 700 kilometres, a relatively low orbit. The launcher is not able to inject large spacecraft into geostationary orbit but that is not its purpose - Ariane 5 fulfills that role. Vega is the only launcher of its class that can launch several satellites in a single mission. This new generation launcher has a very light structure, which allows a greater payload weight for any chosen orbit. Vega's maiden flight is set for 2007, launching from the repurposed ELA-1 launch pad at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The ELA-1 pad was first used by Ariane 1 over 30 years ago. The strategy behind this launcher is to offer to institutional and also commercial customers a range of possibilities that adapt performance and cost to market needs and competition.
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