Vega Prepares for Final Flight: Sentinel-2C Will Be Final Payload

After 12 years of service, the European rocket Vegaa symbol of Italian space engineering, is preparing to make its last flight. At 3:50 Italian time of September 3rdfrom the European Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, Vega will carry the satellite into orbit Sentinel-2C of the program Copernicuspromoted by the Commission European and from theEuropean Space Agency (ESA).

Vega’s Last Flight: A Mission of Historic Significance

The rocket, designed and built by the Italian Avio and operated by Arianespacewill pass the baton to its updated version, Vega-Cwhich successfully debuted in 2022 and is preparing for a new launch scheduled for November 2024. “The rocket taught us how important it is to be able to do things independently and work with a long-term vision,” he said Stephen Whitehead of ESA’s flight programmes, during an online press conference organised to present this historic mission.

The Vega project, born from an Italian idea in the 1970s90was initially greeted with scepticism by ESA, but then won over European partners, proving to be a key element in the space launcher sector. Vega he anticipated the evolution of the sector towards the launches of small satellites, demonstrating its importance not only for Italy but for the whole of Europe. Over the years, Vega has allowed the placing into orbit of numerous satellites essential for the observation of our planet.

Vega’s last mission, indicated by the acronym VV24will carry the third satellite of the family into orbit Sentinel-2. This optical satellite was designed for the monitoring of the soil, among other applications. The director of the Programs of ESA Earth Observation, Simonetta Chelistressed how the Sentinel family has given birth to very many applications beyond those initially planned.

Data collected by satellites Sentinel-2 are crucial for a wide range of applications, from agricultural support and crop monitoring to management of resources environmental. This data is also used to monitor deforestation in tropical forests and estimate methane emissions across the planet, contributing thus to the formulation of policies environmental at local and global level.

The future of the Copernicus programme

Thanks to the constellation of satellites that make up the program Copernicusincluding the future Sentinel-2D already in production, ESA continues to strengthen its ability to observe our planet. In the near future, we will also discuss of the realization of a new one generation of satellites, ready to continue the mission begun by Vega.

With this latest launch, Vega is dismissesleaving an ersignificant step in the field of space exploration and Earth observation. A step important not only for Italybut for the entire European space community.