Vega evolution

Infographic showing the differences between the Vega family of rockets.

Vega joined the family of rockets at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in 2012, delivering satellites and spacecraft to equatorial and Sun-synchronous orbits, its last flight was in 2024.

ESA’s Vega-C succeeds Vega with its first flight in 2022, delivering more performance, greater payload volume and better competitiveness. The rocket extends Europe’s autonomy in space by offering new mission possibilities, including return-to-Earth operations with ESA's reusable Space Rider spacecraft. Vega-C features major enhancements including two new solid propulsion stages, an higher-rated upper stage, new fairing, and new ground infrastructure.

The objective with Vega-E is to further increase the competitiveness and performance of Vega-C. This will increase its flexibility in terms of payload mass and volume and reduce the launch service cost and globally the cost of launch per kilo offered in the market. The key for achieving these objectives is the use of new technologies for a completely new upper stage, featuring a new low-cost liquid-fuelled engine, MR-10.