Vega – Page 9 – Spaceflight Now

Photos: Vega launch lights up French Guiana

June 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

Monday night’s blastoff of a Vega rocket from the northern shore of South America dispatched a 2,500-pound Earth imaging satellite for Europe and put on a light show across the tropical spaceport at the edge of the Amazon.

New satellite joins Europe’s growing Earth observing network

June 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

A new satellite to monitor crops, pollution and the growth of cities blasted off Monday from a tropical spaceport in French Guiana, adding another piece to Europe’s multibillion-dollar fleet of spacecraft tasked to track Earth’s ever-changing environment.

Live coverage: Vega rocket deploys second Sentinel satellite

June 22, 2015 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Sentinel 2A land imaging satellite designed to glimpse cities, farms and forests from orbit launched aboard a Vega rocket. The 2,500-pound satellite lifted off at 0151:58 GMT Tuesday (9:51:58 p.m. EDT Monday).

‘Europe’s Landsat’ in the starting blocks

June 21, 2015 Stephen Clark

The first in a planned multi-decade series of European land imaging satellites is fastened on top of a solid-fueled Vega launcher at a French Guiana space base for liftoff Monday, kicking off a mission to track everything from global crop growth to urban sprawl.

France to privatize its Arianespace shares

June 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

The French government has signaled its intention to sell its stake in Arianespace, a major step in consolidating the European launcher industry under the control of a joint venture formed by Airbus and rocket engine manufacturer Safran.

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.

Vega wins contract to launch Peruvian military satellite

March 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

Arianespace will pair a Peruvian military reconnaissance satellite with a package of four commercial Skybox Earth imaging spacecraft on a Vega rocket launch in 2016.

Arianespace to launch satellites for Earth imaging, data relay

March 21, 2015 Stephen Clark

Arianespace announced four launch orders this week to deploy spacecraft in orbit for Google, the United Arab Emirates and Europe’s new laser data relay satellite network.

Arianespace on pace for one launch per month in 2015

February 18, 2015 Stephen Clark

Last week’s successful launch of a Vega rocket with a European re-entry technology demonstrator marked the first of at least 11 flights planned this year by Arianespace to put communications satellites, Earth observatories and research probes into space.

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.