The Vega programme has its origins in the 1990s, when studies in several European countries investigate the possibility of complementing the performance range offered by the Ariane family of launchers with
a capability for smaller payload.
Vega is designed to cope with a wide range of missions and payload configurations in order to respond to different market opportunities and provide great flexibility. In particular it offers configurations able to handle payloads ranging from a single satellite up to one main satellite plus six
microsatellites.
Vega is compatible with payloads ranging from 300 kg to 2500 kg, depending on the type and altitude of the orbit required by the customer. The benchmark is for 1500 kg into a 700 km-altitude polar orbit.