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Vega-C

Active

Avio S.p.A (Avio)

July 13, 2022

Description

Specifications

Minimum Stage
1
Max Stage
4
Length
30.1 m
Diameter
3.0 m
Fairing Diameter
―
Launch Mass
136.0 T
Thrust
2974.0 kN
Apogee (Sub-Orbital)
1000.0 km

Family

Name
Vega-C
Family
―
Variant
―
Alias
―
Full Name
Vega-C

Payload Capacity

Launch Cost
$48000000
Low Earth Orbit
1500.0 kg
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
―
Direct Geostationary
―
Sun-Synchronous Capacity
―

Avio S.p.A

Commercial

CEO: Giulio Ranzo

Avio 1908

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.

Upcoming Spaceflights

Vega-C | Sentinel-1C

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
Dec. 3, 2024, 9:20 p.m.

Status: Go for Launch

Mission:

Sentinel-1C carries an advanced radar technology to provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface. It is a replacement satellite to complete the Sentinel-1 duo after Sentinel-1B suffered a technical anomaly.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | Biomass

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD March, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Biomass is an Earth observation satellite launched as a part of ESA Earth Explorer program. It will be using a P-band synthetic aperture radar to collect data on the height of forests, allowing scientists to determine the amount of biomass and carbon stored there.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | Sentinel-1D

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD June, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Sentinel-1D carries an advanced radar technology to provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface as part of the Sentinel-1 constellation.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | MAIA

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD November, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Unknown Mission

There are no mission or payload details available for this launch.

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Vega-C | IRIDE 1

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

First dedicated launch for the European Space Agency's IRIDE Earth observation constellation.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE)

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to investigate the interaction between Earth’s protective shield – the magnetosphere – and the supersonic solar wind.

Elliptical Orbit

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Vega-C | Korean Multi-purpose Satellite 6 (KOMPSAT-6)

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Sixth South Korean Earth observation satellite of the KOMPSAT series. It is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar with a ground resolution between 0.5 and 20 meters.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | Altius

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

ALTIUS is a satellite mission proposed by the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy to monitor the distribution and evolution of stratospheric ozone in the Earth's atmosphere.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | PLATiNO 2

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Unknown Mission

There are no mission or payload details available for this launch.

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Vega-C | PLATiNO 1

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Unknown Mission

There are no mission or payload details available for this launch.

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Vega-C | IRIDE 2

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Second dedicated launch for the European Space Agency's IRIDE Earth observation constellation.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | MicroCarb

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Microcarb is a small satellite designed to map sources and sinks of carbon dioxide (CO2)—the most important greenhouse gas — on a global scale.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | CSG-3

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

CSG-3 is an Earth observation satellite for the Italian Space Agency, part of a reconnaissance constellation using synthetic aperture radars operating in the X-band.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | EAGLE-1

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

SES satellite to support the end-to-end secure Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system for Europe.

Low Earth Orbit

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Vega-C | FLEX

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2025

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) satellite is a part of ESA's Earth Explorer program. The satellite will map vegetation fluorescence to quantify photosynthetic activity.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | KOMPSAT-7

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD January, 2026

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

KOMPSAT-7 is the follow-up model of KOMPSAT-3A whose mission is to provide high-resolution satellite images to satisfy South-Koreaâ€™s governmental and institutional needs.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | CSG-4

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2026

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

CSG-4 is an Earth observation satellite for the Italian Space Agency, part of a reconnaissance constellation using synthetic aperture radars operating in the X-band.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | ClearSpace-1

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2026

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

First debris removal mission by the Swiss startup ClearSpace. Contracted by the European Space Agency, it is designed to catch and de-orbit part of a Vega rocket from Low Earth Orbit using four articulated arms.

Low Earth Orbit

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Vega-C | Sentinel-3C

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2026

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Sentinel-3C is the third satellite in the Sentinel-3 constellation, which provides high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and land services.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | Sentinel CO2M-B

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2026

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Sentinel CO2M-B carries a near-infrared and shortwave-infrared spectrometer to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by human activity, providing the EU with a unique and independent source of information, to assess the effectiveness of policy measures, and to track their impact towards decarbonizing Europe and meeting national emission reduction targets.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | Sentinel CO2M-A

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2026

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Sentinel CO2M-A carries a near-infrared and shortwave-infrared spectrometer to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by human activity, providing the EU with a unique and independent source of information, to assess the effectiveness of policy measures, and to track their impact towards decarbonizing Europe and meeting national emission reduction targets.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | Space Rider

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2027

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Maiden flight of the European Space Rider (Space Reusable Integrated Demonstrator for Europe Return).

Low Earth Orbit

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Vega-C | FORUM

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2027

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

FORUM (Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring) is a satellite from the European Space Agency designed to provide insight into Earth's radiation budget using a Fourier transform spectrometer.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | Sentinel-3D

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD November, 2028

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Sentinel-3D is the fourth satellite in the Sentinel-3 constellation, which provides high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and land services.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | Harmony

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2029

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

Harmony, ESA's 10th Earth Explorer mission, consists of 2 satellites that will orbit Earth in tandem with a Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite in various configurations. The Harmony satellites’ synthetic aperture radar instruments will receive the Sentinel-1 satellite's radar signals that bounce back, or ‘backscatter’, from Earth’s surface. At the same time, Harmony’s thermal-infrared instruments provide complementary observations of the sea surface as well as the position and motion of clouds above it.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | TRUTHS

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
TBD December, 2030

Status: To Be Determined

Mission:

TRUTHS (Traceable Radiometry Underpinning Terrestrial- and Helio-Studies) is a a ‘standards laboratory in space’, setting the ‘gold standard’ reference for climate measurements. Carrying a cryogenic solar absolute radiometer and a hyperspectral imaging spectrometer as well as a novel onboard calibration system, TRUTHS is designed to make continuous measurements of incoming solar radiation and reflected radiation to evaluate Earth’s energy-in to energy-out ratio.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Previous Flights

flew on two previous launch(es).

Vega-C | Pléiades Neo 5 & 6

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
Dec. 21, 2022, 1:47 a.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 are the last two in a constellation of four optical high-resolution Earth observation satellites built and operated by Airbus. It is a dual purpose constellation, serving both civilian and military purposes.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Vega-C | LARES-2 (Maiden flight)

Avio S.p.A | Italy
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
July 13, 2022, 1:13 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

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.

Medium Earth Orbit

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Recent Launches