ESA’s new medium-lift Vega-C rocket ready for inaugural flight

The European Space Agency's new medium-lift Vega-C rocket is all set for its inaugural flight, with its four stages stacked stages and ready to receive the payload fairing before final checks and launch from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. Flight VV21 will lift off as soon as 13 July, pending suitable conditions for launch, the agency said.

According to the agency, the new rocket represents a dramatic capability boost compared to its predecessor Vega - from 1.5 t to about 2.2 t in a reference 700 km polar orbit. It features a new first stage, P120C, and a new second stage, Zefiro-40, the same Zefiro-9 third stage and an uprated fourth stage.

"Vega-C features major enhancements from Vega, both in the rocket and its ground infrastructure. We've developed a new configuration with significant changes to many features of a proven concept, but the goal is to deliver major improvements in performance and competitiveness," says Renato Lafranconi, Vega programmes manager.

ESA’s new medium-lift #VegaC rocket is nearly ready for its inaugural flight. Flight VV21 will lift off as soon as 13 July, pending suitable conditions for launch.Details 👉 https://t.co/DIRt08nRgV pic.twitter.com/5yT2Rptwdq

— ESA (@esa) July 4, 2022

The new launcher can orbit larger satellites, two main payloads or can accommodate various arrangements for rideshare missions. The main payload on Vega-C's inaugural flight is LARES-2, a scientific mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), aimed at measuring the so-called frame-dragging effect, a distortion of space-time caused by the rotation of a massive body such as Earth as predicted by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Six CubeSats make a secondary payload package.

Vega-C will work alongside the Ariane 6 heavy lifter. With Vega-C and Ariane 6, Europe will have a flexible, independent solution for a fast-changing launch market, says ESA's Director of Space Transportation, Daniel Neuenschwander