Vega (rocket)

Vega (, , ) was an expendable small-lift launch vehicle operated by Arianespace, produced by Avio, and jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Development began in 1998 and the first launch took place from the Guiana Space Centre on 13February 2012. It was the 8th most launched small lift launch vehicle in history. The final flight of the rocket took place on 5September 2024, after being replaced by the improved Vega C, already in use since 2022.

It was designed to launch small payloads, satellites for scientific and Earth observation missions to polar and low Earth orbits. The reference Vega mission was a polar orbit bringing a spacecraft of to an altitude of .

The rocket, named after Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, was a single-body launcher (no strap-on boosters) with three solid rocket stages: the P80 first stage, the Zefiro 23 second stage, and the Zefiro 9 third stage. The upper module was a liquid rocket called AVUM. The improved version of the P80 stage, the P120C, will also be used as the side boosters of the Ariane 6. Italy was the leading contributor to the Vega program (65%), followed by France (13%). Other participants include Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.

Vega struggled to compete in the commercial launch market in its decade of service. After initial success, two in-flight failures and rising competition SpaceX's rideshare programs, which offered lower prices, relegated Vega to primarily serving European government agencies willing to pay more to support independent space access. Provided by Wikipedia