Vega rocket set for maiden voyage (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

Europe's Vega rocket is finally set to make its maiden flight on Monday.

The 30m-tall vehicle, first conceived in the 1990s, will launch on what is termed a qualification flight from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.

It will carry nine satellites into orbit but the object of the mission is really to prove the rocket's systems all work as designed.

Vega has been developed to assure European access to space for payload classes weighing less than 2.5 tonnes.

At the moment, these smaller satellites tend to ride converted Russian ICBMs to get into orbit and they can sometimes wait many months to get a launch slot.



***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16986043





Three solid-fuel stages, followed by a classic hypergolic UDMH/N₂O₄ 4th stage, for those who care about such things.

[phasma ex machina]

1. k&r

[eppur_se_muova]

2. UPDATE: Vega launcher makes first flight (BBC)

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

Europe's new Vega rocket has completed a flawless first flight.

Controllers at the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana ignited the rocket at 07:00 local time (10:00 GMT), and it completed its mission 70 minutes later.

The 30m-tall vehicle has been designed to put small scientific and government satellites in orbit.

For its first outing, Vega placed nine payloads in orbit, including a physics experiment to test Einstein's theory of general relativity.

"A new member of the launcher family has been born," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, the European Space Agency's (Esa) director general.
***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16956324