Vega-C flight VV27 stands free for liftoff

Vega-C flight VV27 on the launch pad hours before launch, 25 July 2025.

Flight VV27 launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 23:03 local time on 25 July (03:03 BST/04:03 CEST on 26 July), operated by Arianespace.

The rocket carried Airbus’s four CO3D satellites and French space agency CNES's MicroCarb mission.

The four small satellites in the CO3D constellation (an abbreviation of the French 'Constellation Optique en 3D') are set to map the globe in three dimensions from low Earth orbit, to serve public and private sector needs.

MicroCarb is designed to map sources and sinks of carbon dioxide on a global scale. ESA coordinated and procured the launch of MicroCarb on behalf of the European Commission, as part of its In-Orbit Demonstration / In-Orbit Validation (IOD/IOV) programme.