Avio Signs Contracts with ESA to Increase Vega Operations

On December 18, the Italian company Avio and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed multiple contracts to increase the launch operations of the Vega launchers family. The total value of the signed contracts amounts to approximately €350 million.

As part of the accords, ESA will support Avio in upgrading Vega C ground systems at Kourou and developing the future Vega E rocket. Furthermore, the company has been selected to provide launch services for the FORUM mission.

More Vega C launches

Recently, the European light launcher Vega C returned to operation, successfully delivering the Sentinel-1C satellite. The rocket had been grounded for the past two years due to technical issues with the Zefiro 40 second stage, which led to a failure during the VV22 mission in 2022.

Now that the launcher is once again available to the European sector, ESA aims to maximize its use by increasing the launch cadence starting next year. In 2025, four missions are scheduled, with five planned for 2026. According to Avio, the goal is to launch six Vega C rockets per year.

To support the expansion of operations, ESA and Avio have agreed to upgrade the ground systems at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Specifically, the Ariane 5 integration building will be adapted for Vega C to enable the simultaneous assembly of two rockets. This upgrade aims to reduce the time between launches while also releasing operational constraints for Vega E development activities.

As part of the expanded launch campaign, Vega C has been selected to launch the FORUM mission in 2027. Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) is ESA’s ninth Earth Explorer satellite and is manufactured by Airbus. Equipped with a Fourier transform spectrometer, it will measure Earth’s outgoing radiation as never before from space, thus improving the accuracy of climate change assessments.

Vega E

As previously mentioned, ESA signed a contract to further support the development of Vega E, the successor of Vega C. The contract will cover vehicle assembly, ground systems building, and logistics, as well as integrated and combined tests. Vega E will be launched from a new launch pad to be built on the former Ariane 5 launch complex.

The new member of the Vega family will have an increased payload capacity of 3 tons and should allow a reduction in launch costs. The P120C first stage will be replaced by the P160C solid booster, which will also equip ArianeGroup’s Ariane 6 Block 2 rocket.

The three-stage rocket will use the same Zefiro 40 second stage as Vega C, while the third stage and the AVUM upper stage will be replaced by a new liquid-fueled stage, powered by the LOX/LCH4 MR-10 engine. Avio began the development of MR10 in 2018 and conducted a fire test campaign in 2022 at Salto di Quirra, Italy.

_{Cover image credits: ESA}