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Vega on launch pad
Mission timeline
The countdown includes all final preparations of the launcher, satellites and ground infrastructure, and leads to the ignition of the P80 first stage and liftoff.
It culminates with the synchronised sequence that performs the final operations on the launcher prior to liftoff. It is managed by the launch control centre and onboard computers and begins five minutes before liftoff.
Launch countdown and flight events
| Time | Event | Altitude | Speed |
| –03 min 30 s | All systems go, start of synchronised sequence | n/a | n/a |
| +T0 | P80 ignition | n/a | n/a |
| 0.3 s | Liftoff | n/a | n/a |
| 30.7 s | Transonic (Mach 1) | 4.7 km/td> | 332 m/s |
| 53 s | Maximum dynamic pressure | 13 km | 586 m/s |
| 1 min 54.8 s | P80 shut down and separation | 60 | 1.7 km/s |
| 1 min 55.6 s | Zefiro-23 ignition | 61 km | 1.7 km/s |
| 3 min 22.3 s | Zefiro-23 shut down and separation | 127km | 3.8 km/s |
| 3 min 38.5 s | Zefiro-9 ignition | 135 km | 3.8 km/s |
| 3 min 43.5 s | Fairing separation | 138 km | 3.9 km/s |
| 5 min 47.1 s | Zefiro-9 shut down and separation | 182 km | 7.7 km/s |
| 5 min 54.1 s | AVUM 1st boost | 185 km | 7.7 km/s |
| 8 min 45 s | AVUM shut down, injection into transfer orbit | 260 km | 7.8 km/s |
| 48 min 7.3 s | AVUM 2nd boost | 1447 km | 6.6 km/s |
| 52 min 10.5 s | AVUM shut down, injection into primary target orbit | 1450 km | 6.9 km/s |
| 55 min 5.5 s | LARES separation | 1450 km | 6.9 km/s |
| 1 h 6 min 10.5 s | AVUM 3rd boost | 1457 km | 6.9 km/s |
| 1 h 10 min 34.3 s | AVUM shut down | 1458 km | 6.6 km/s |
| 1 h 10 min 35.3 s | ALMASat-1 and CubeSats separation | 1458 km | 6.6 km/s |
| 1 h 21 min 0.3 s | End of mission | 1344 km | 6.7 km/s |
Last update: 2 February 2012
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