{"id":15618,"date":"2024-09-05T15:47:41","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T15:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1410021"},"modified":"2024-09-05T15:47:41","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T15:47:41","slug":"vega-launches-sentinel-2c-in-fitting-swan-song-for-european-rocket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=15618","title":{"rendered":"Vega launches Sentinel-2C in \u2018fitting\u2019 swan song for European rocket"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Europe\u2019s first-generation Vega rocket has blasted a payload into space<\/a> for the last time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Vega lifted off from Europe\u2019s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana in the early hours of this morning. It was carrying Sentinel-2C, an Earth observation platform that will now join Europe\u2019s fleet of Copernicus satellites.<\/span><\/p>\n

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LIFTOFF of #Sentinel2<\/a> C on the last Vega rocket from @EuropeSpacePort<\/a> in Kourou, French Guiana on 5 September 2024! pic.twitter.com\/QzAZPkqBTr<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 European Space Agency (@esa) September 5, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The European Space Agency (ESA) called the launch a \u201cfitting\u201d farewell for a rocket that was primarily responsible for deploying small Earth observation satellites in Polar orbit.  <\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

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As we wrapped up our incredible 2024 edition, we’re pleased to announce our return to Amsterdam NDSM in 2025. Registration now!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Built by Italian space firm Avio, Vega was 30 meters tall, weighed 137 tonnes, and used three solid-propellant stages with a fourth liquid-propellant stage. <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the rocket\u2019s most important missions took place in 2020, when it used a demo payload dispenser to deploy 53 satellites into orbit on one single flight as part of the <\/span>Small Spacecraft Mission Service<\/span> proof of concept<\/span><\/a> flight. <\/span><\/p>\n

In 2015, Vega conducted a reentry demonstrator that showed Europe has the technology to launch a vehicle to space and return it safely to Earth. This mission was a precursor to <\/span>Space Rider<\/span><\/a>, a reusable robotic laboratory spacecraft set to launch next year. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, after 12 years of service and 20 flights, Avio is replacing Vega with its big brother \u2014 Vega-C. This rocket promises larger payload capacity at a lower cost but is currently grounded after it <\/span>blew-up during its second-ever launch<\/span><\/a> in 2022. Vega-C is scheduled to resume operations in November. <\/span><\/p>\n

Competing with SpaceX<\/b><\/h2>\n

Vega\u2019s decommissioning is a bittersweet moment for Europe\u2019s space sector. While the launcher enabled independent access to space for some key European missions, it never really achieved <\/span>commercial success<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a problem that haunts Vega-C and Europe\u2019s latest heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 6. That launcher only <\/span>took off a month ago<\/span><\/a> after four years of delays. These setbacks forced Europe<\/span> to contract launch missions to Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX<\/a><\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 is the world\u2019s first orbital class reusable rocket. Reusability allows the firm to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access.<\/p>\n

Neither Vega-C and Ariane 6 are reusable. Amid growing competition they may struggle to find their niche.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Europe\u2019s first-generation Vega rocket has blasted a payload into space for the last time.  Vega lifted off from Europe\u2019s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana in the early hours of this morning. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15618"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}