Observing the Earth
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16 JUL. 2020
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SEOSAT-Ingenio lifted off on a Vega rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 17 November 2020 at 02:52 CET (22:52 local time on 16 November). The first three stages functioned nominally until the ignition of the AVUM upper stage, eight minutes after departure from the launch pad. At that time, a degraded trajectory was detected, followed by a loss of control of the vehicle and the subsequent loss of the mission.
The Vega VV17 flight also carried with the CNES French space agency’s Taranis satellite. SEOSAT-Ingenio had a mass at liftoff of approximately 750 kg.
Read in full: Press Release N° 23–2020: Vega flight VV17 failure: Arianespace and ESA appoint an independent Inquiry Commission
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Vega
About Vega
Vega joined the family of launch vehicles at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in 2012. It has demonstrated impressive capabilities ranging from equatorial to Sun-synchronous orbits, from orbital to suborbital missions, from single to multiple payloads.
Unlike most small rockets, Vega is able to lift payloads ranging from a single satellite up to one main satellite plus additional small satellites and place them into separate orbits on a single mission. This has made reaching space cheaper, quicker and easier.
With a height of 30 m and a diameter of 3 m, the launcher can place 300–1500 kg satellites into the polar and low-Earth orbits used for many scientific and Earth observation missions. Vega was used to launch ESA’s Earth observation Aeolus wind mission in 2018.
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Launch campaign
Vega
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.
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