Vega – Page 9 – Spaceflight Now

April 15, 2026

Breaking News

[ April 15, 2026 ] West Coast SpaceX Falcon 9 mission launches 25 Starlink satellites Falcon 9
[ April 14, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 1,000th Starlink satellite of 2026 on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Falcon 9
[ April 10, 2026 ] NASA confident Artemis 2 heat shield will protect crew during re-entry Artemis
[ April 5, 2026 ] Artemis astronauts send down Easter message, prep for lunar fly around Monday Artemis
[ April 3, 2026 ] ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket launches its heaviest payload ever with fifth Amazon Leo mission Atlas 5

Environmental satellite with ‘color vision’ lands in French Guiana

April 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

Wrapped inside a protective shipping container, Europe’s Sentinel 2A land imaging satellite flew from Germany to French Guiana this week aboard an Antonov transport plane to prepare for launch aboard a Vega rocket in June.

Engineers to assess reusability of Europe’s wingless space plane

February 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

Back on Earth after a whirlwind journey 20,000 miles around the world, an experimental re-entry demonstrator is on the way to Europe for post-flight inspections aimed at gathering design inputs for future reusable space vehicles.

Fire in the hole! Vega fires away from jungle spaceport

February 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

Check out photos of a solid-fueled Vega launcher as it zipped away from its launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, with Europe’s IXV mission Wednesday.

European space plane flies around the world on test flight

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Europe launched a sleek space plane more than 250 miles above Earth on Wednesday, testing its maneuverability, on-board guidance systems, and a next-generation heat shield as the experimental vehicle glided through the atmosphere toward a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Video: Europe’s IXV prepared for launch

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Watch a time lapse video chronicling several days of activity to ready the European Space Agency’s sleek IXV re-entry demonstrator for flight.

Flight timeline for ESA’s re-entry demonstrator

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

An automobile-sized prototype space plane is ready for an around-the-world test flight to demonstrate technologies to fly on a future orbital space plane, reusable rocket stages, and interplanetary sample return probes. Follow the 102-minute flight with this timeline.

Live coverage: European mini-shuttle back on Earth

February 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

A European re-entry demonstrator launched aboard a solid-fueled Vega rocket at 1340 GMT (8:40 a.m. EST) from French Guiana, kicking off a whirlwind 102-minute around-the-world test flight to validate technologies that could be used on future reusable launchers and spaceships.

Photos: ESA re-entry testbed prepared for liftoff

February 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

Engineers have put the finishing touches on a prototype spaceship representing a leap in European space technology, aiming for liftoff Feb. 11 for a flight 260 miles into space and back to Earth for a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Europe’s re-entry demonstrator mated to Vega rocket

February 1, 2015 Stephen Clark

Launch crews in French Guiana have mounted an innovative European space plane on top of a solid-fueled Vega launcher for a Feb. 11 suborbital test flight.

Launch campaign resumes for ESA space plane

January 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

Engineers are resuming preparations to launch an experimental European re-entry test vehicle on a Vega rocket Feb. 11 after a two-month delay ordered by safety authorities to analyze risks posed to the public by the booster’s unique trajectory after liftoff from French Guiana.