Vega
90 articles
Environmental satellite with ‘color vision’ lands in French Guiana
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
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
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
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.
VideoVideo: Europe’s IXV prepared for launch
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
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
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
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
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
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.