ESA title

Vega first launched in 2012 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana to complement Europe’s heavy-lift Ariane rockets. Vega-C, a more powerful variant with greater payload volume and improved competitiveness, took over this role with its inaugural flight on 13 June 2022. Vega-E is now in development to further increase performance while reducing launch service costs.

Notable ESA launches

  • 2012 – Inaugural flight
  • 2015 – Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle precursor to Space Rider for return missions
  • 2018 – Aeolus mapping Earth's global wind fields
  • 2020 – First rideshare service using the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) multiple payload adapter
  • 2022 – First flight of Vega-C
Vega

Latest

PRETTY is testing 'slant' reflectometry
Enabling & Support

Icy first light of shoebox-sized PRETTY CubeSat

07/03/2024 842 views 7 likes
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Vega VV23 liftoff
Enabling & Support

Vega flies to bring satellites to space

09/10/2023 12436 views 85 likes
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Inspecting CubeSats
Enabling & Support

Shoebox-sized space labs being launched by Vega

06/10/2023 4097 views 47 likes
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PRETTY is testing 'slant' reflectometry
Enabling & Support

Vega’s PRETTY CubeSat: unlocking satnav for Earth data

05/10/2023 2407 views 47 likes
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Proba-V Companion CubeSat
Enabling & Support

Big Earth imager to be tested on small Vega CubeSat

04/10/2023 2287 views 57 likes
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More items

  • Enabling & Support

    ESA Space Transportation

    10/02/2021 2171 views 30 likes
    Open item
    ESA safeguards Europe’s independent access to space
  • Enabling & Support

    Industry cooperation to build Vega-C

    21/10/2020 3721 views 22 likes
    Open item
    Industry cooperation to build Vega-C
  • Enabling & Support

    Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana

    17/02/2020 16960 views 130 likes
    Open item
  • Enabling & Support

    Vega-C VV21: transfer and integration of Zefiro-9 third stage

    11/05/2022 541 views 4 likes
    Open item
    10 May 2022: The Vega-C Zefiro-9 third stage has now been transferred to and integrated at the Vega Launch Zone (Zone de Lancement Vega) ZLV at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
  • Enabling & Support

    Vega C PAC rollout, VV21

    08/07/2022 689 views 17 likes
    Open item
    Vega C PAC rollout, VV21
  • Agency

    Vega-C VV21 with LARES-2 ready for launch

    13/07/2022 296 views 0 likes
    Open item
  • Enabling & Support

    Vega C VV21 liftoff 13 July 2022

    14/07/2022 999 views 18 likes
    Open item
    Vega C VV21 liftoff 13 July 2022, Europe's Spaceport French Guiana
  • Enabling & Support

    Vega-C successfully completes inaugural flight

    13/07/2022 9593 views 84 likes
    Open item
    Vega C VV21 liftoff 13 July 2022, Europe's Spaceport French Guiana
  • Enabling & Support

    Highlights of the inaugural Vega-C launch

    13/07/2022 4722 views 93 likes
    Open item
  • Enabling & Support

    M10 engine test success marks key step toward Vega-E

    06/05/2022 3583 views 13 likes
    Open item
    Vega-E is being targeted to fly from 2026 as the next evolution of the Vega launch system.