Watch the Launch

SSMS POC

Overview

Destination: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Mission: Dedicated Rideshare

Sun-Synchronous Orbit Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana #VV16

The Vega POC (Proof Of Concept) flight will be the first mission of the SSMS (Small Spacecraft Mission Service), a modular carbon fiber dispenser, a program initiated by ESA in 2016, with the contribution of the European Commission. For all the European partners involved, its purpose is to address the burgeoning institutional and commercial small spacecraft market with a new rideshare concept. Payload includes dozens of satellites: Athena, ION CubeSat Carrier, ESAIL, NEMO-HD, GHGSat C1, six Flock-v cubesats, several Lemur-2 cubesats, twelve SpaceBEE nanosats, FSSCat A & B, RTAF-Sat, DIDO 3, IGOSat, PICASSO, PINO, PIXL, QARMAN, SIMBA, TRISAT, Casaa-Sat, TTU-100, and more.

Vega

Family:
Configuration:

Vega is the smallest lifter in the current Arianespace family.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    4
  • Length
    29.9 m
  • Diameter
    3.025 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    2.6 m
  • Launch Mass
    137.0 T
  • Thrust
    2974.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Vega
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Vega
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $37000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    1500.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    1450.0 kg

Avio S.p.A

Avio S.p.A

(Avio)

CEO: Giulio Ranzo Founded: 1908 Successes: 0 Failures: 0 Pending: 24

Agency Type:

Avio S.p.A. is an Italian company operating in the aerospace sector with its head office in Colleferro near Rome, Italy. Founded in 1908, it is present in Italy and abroad with different commercial offices and 10 production sites.

INFO WIKI

Related News

ESA

A fall of CubeSats

Four pioneering ESA Technology CubeSats reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the last few months. Each was only about the size of a shoebox or smaller, but despite their diminutive dimensions the missions left an outsize legacy in terms of de…

SpaceNews

Arianespace launches Vega on return-to-flight mission with 53 smallsats

Spaceflight Now

Vega rocket deploys 53 satellites on successful return to flight mission

Spaceflight Now

Arianespace’s first smallsat rideshare mission ready for another launch attempt

Spaceflight Now

After weather delays, Arianespace pauses Vega launch operations to recharge batteries

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV)


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
2 hours, 23 minutes ago
Progress MS-34 (95P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Long March 6
Success
12 hours, 30 minutes ago
PRSC-EO3
Launch Complex 16 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Optical Earth observation satellite for the Pakistan government's SUPARCO.


Long March 2D
Success
1 day, 18 hours ago
4 x SatNet test satellites
Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Officially described as "Satellite-Internet Technology Demonstration Satellites". Probably 4 test satellites for the Chinese state-owned LEO commu…


Angara 1.2
Success
2 days, 16 hours ago
Kosmos (Unknown Payload)
35/1 - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Unknown satellite(s) for the Russian military.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 21 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-14
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
2 days, 21 hours ago
Kakushin Rising (JAXA Rideshare)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

JAXA-manifested rideshare of eight separate spacecraft that includes educational small sats, an ocean monitoring satellite, a demonstration satellite…


Electron
Success
3 days, 23 hours ago
Bubbles
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C) - Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

Sub-orbital launch under Rocket Lab’s Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program, details TBD.


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 17 hours ago
GPS III SV10
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Tenth of ten GPS III missions.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 8 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-22
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


New Glenn
Failure
6 days, 13 hours ago
BlueBird Block 2 #2
Launch Complex 36A - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird Block 1 satellites, requi…