11 Facts About Vega E

Vega E is an expendable launch system in use by Arianespace jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency and the European Space Agency .

Rocket, named after Vega E, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, is a single-body launcher with three solid rocket stages: the P80 first stage, the Zefiro 23 second stage, and the Zefiro 9 third stage.

Around 2000, an alternative use for the Vega E was explored as a medium-class booster rocket to be used in conjunction with an improved, up-rated model of the Ariane 5 heavy launcher.

Progress on Vega E was delayed by the failure of one such test of the third stage on 28 March 2007.

At the 2009 Paris Air Show, it was revealed that the adoption of more cost-effective engine to replace the upper stages of the Vega E have been postponed due to a failure to reduce the overall costs of the launcher, making it much less worthwhile to pursue.

Related searches

At this point, the certification of all four stages of the Vega E launch was anticipated to be achieved prior to the end of 2009, while the first launch was scheduled to take place during 2010.

On 13 February 2012, the first launch of the Vega E rocket occurred for Kourou; it was reported as being an "apparently perfect flight".

Payload fairing of the Vega E was designed and is manufactured by RUAG Space of Switzerland.

Vega E-C is an evolution on the original Vega E launcher to enable better launch performance and flexibility.

On 13 July 2022, Vega E-C had its debut flight during which it delivered the LARES 2 and six other satellites from French Guiana to the orbit.

Development costs for the Vega E rocket totaled €710 million, with ESA spending an additional €400 million to sponsor five development flights between 2012 and 2014.