Vega (launcher)

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Vega is a planned expendable launch system developed jointly by the Italian Space Agency and the European Space Agency since 1998, with the first launch planned for 2007. It is designed to launch small payloads : 300 to 2000 kg satellites for scientific and Earth observation missions to polar and low earth orbits. It is named after the star Vega. It is a single body launcher with three solid rocket stages, the P80 first stage, the Zefiro23 second stage, the Zefiro9 third stage, and a liquid rocket upper module called AVUM. The technology developed for the P80 program shall also be used for future Ariane developments. Italy is the leading contributor to the Vega programme with 65%, other participants being France (12.43%), Belgium (5.63%), Spain (5%), The Netherlands (3.5%), Switzerland (1.34%) and Sweden (0.8%). Belgium, France, Italy and The Netherlands also contribute to the P80 programme.

The reference VEGA mission is a polar orbit bringing a spacecraft of 1,500 kilograms to an altitude of 700 kilometers.

	First Stage	Second Stage	Third Stage	Fourth Stage
Propulsion	P80	Zefiro 23	Zefiro 9	AVUM
Height	10,5 m	7,5 m	3,85 m	1,74 m
Diameter	3 m	1,9 m	1,9 m	1,9 m
Propellant mass	88 t	23,9 t	10,1 t	0,55 t
Thrust (max)	3040 kN	1200 kN	213 kN	2,45 kN
Nozzle expansion ratio	16	25	56	-
Burn time	107 s	71,6 s	117 s	315,2 s

[edit] External links

• Vega launcher, European Space Agency.
• First stone for Vega at Europe's Spaceport
• Vega brochure