Background During the mid-1990s, French firms
Aérospatiale and SEP, along with Italian firm
Bombrini-Parodi-Delfino (BPD), commenced discussions on the development of a proposed Ariane Complementary Launcher (ACL). Around the same time, Italy began to champion the concept of a new solid-propellant satellite launcher. In April 1998, it was publicly stated that the Vega programme was dependent upon the securing of roughly ECU70 million of industrial investment, as well as the availability of around ECU350 million of funding that had been requested from interested member states of the
European Space Agency (ESA), led by France and Italy. During June 1998, it was announced that ministers from European Space Agency (ESA) member states had agreed to proceed with the first phase of the development programme for Vega; the participating members were France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy – the latter had assumed 55% of the burden for financing the programme. By September 1998, it was projected that, if fully funded, Vega would perform its first launch during 2002. However, by early 1998, France was publicly showing displeasure in the programme, leading to disputes in its funding. A new, higher-performance version of the Vega was proposed, but this failed to sufficiently satisfy France. In September 1999, France decided to withdraw from the Vega programme entirely, leading to fears for the future of the launcher. In November 1999,
European Space Agency (ESA) formally dropped Vega as an endorsed programme, a decision which was largely attributed to France's withdrawal; Italy declared that it would proceed regardless, and threatened to re-direct its allocated contributions for the further development of the Ariane 5 to meet the shortfall. Around 2000, an alternative use for the Vega 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. In October 2000, it was announced that France and Italy had settled their year-long dispute over the Vega programme; France and Italy agreed to provide 35% and 52%, respectively, of the financing towards the all-composite P80 booster for the Ariane 5 — work which would be included in the Vega programme. In March 2001,
FiatAvio and the
Italian Space Agency (ASI) formed a new company, European Launch Vehicle (ELV), to assume responsibility for the majority of development work on the Vega programme. By 2003, there was concerns that
European Space Agency (ESA)'s recent adoption of the Russian
Soyuz launcher would directly compete with the in-development Vega; demands for such launchers had declined with a downturn in the mobile telecommunications satellite market and doubts over the European
Galileo satellite navigation system.
Programme launch In March 2003, contracts for development of the Vega launcher were signed by
European Space Agency (ESA) and
Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), the French space agency; Italy provided 65% of funding while six additional nations contributed the remainder. In May 2004, it was reported that a contract was signed between commercial operator
Arianespace and prime contractor ELV to perform vehicle integration at
Kourou,
French Guiana. In November 2004, construction commenced upon a new dedicated launch pad for the Vega launcher at Kourou, this included a
bunker and a self-propelled structure to assist assembly of the stages; this site was built over the original launch pad for the retired
Ariane 1 launcher. In September 2005, the successful completion of key tests on the Vega's solid rocket motor igniters, a key milestone, was reported. In November 2005,
European Space Agency (ESA) declared its desire for the development and deployment of an
electric propulsion-powered module to work in conjunction with the Vega launcher; this envisioned module would transfer payloads between
low Earth orbit (LEO) and a
geostationary orbit (GEO). During November 2005, it was reported that both
Israel and
India had shown formal interest in the Vega programme. In December 2005, the Vega launcher, along with the Ariane and Soyuz launchers, were endorsed as the recognised "first choice" platforms for ESA payloads. On 19 December 2005, the first test firing of the Vega's third stage was completed successfully at
Salto di Quirra,
Sardinia. For several years, further tests would be conducted at the Sardinia site. Progress on Vega was delayed by the failure of one such test of the third stage on 28 March 2007. During January 2007,
European Space Agency (ESA) announced that the agency was studying the use of
Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation in order to support launches of the Vega and Ariane. 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 have been postponed due to a failure to reduce the overall costs of the launcher, making it much less worthwhile to pursue. Despite this finding, efforts to improve the efficiency of the third stage continued. At this point, the certification of all four stages of the Vega launch was anticipated to be achieved prior to the end of 2009, while the first launch was scheduled to take place during 2010. The first flight was intended to be flown with a scientific payload, rather than a "dummy" placeholder; By late 2010, the first flight had been delayed into 2011.
Into flight During October 2011, all major components of the first Vega rocket departed Avio's
Colleferro facility, near
Rome, by sea for Kourou. At this point, the first launch was anticipated to occur during December 2011 or January 2012. During early January 2012, it was reported that the launch date would slip into the following month. On 13 February 2012, the first launch of the Vega rocket occurred from Kourou; it was reported as being an "apparently perfect flight". During mid-2011, it was postulated that an evolved 'Europeanised' upgrade of the Vega rocket could be developed in the medium-to-long term future. Following the successful first launch, various improvements for the Vega were postulated. The
German Aerospace Center (DLR) was reportedly enthusiastic on the prospects of developing a European alternative to the Vega's final, fourth stage; however, it was widely believed that there should be no change to Vega hardware for roughly 10 years in order to consolidate operations and avoid unnecessary costs early on.
European Space Agency (ESA) was also keen to take advantage of potential commonalities between the Vega and the proposed
Ariane 6 heavy launcher. Following on from the first launch, a further four flights were conducted under the vestiges of the VERTA programme (Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment), during which observation or scientific payloads were orbited while validating and readying the Vega rocket for more lucrative commercial operations. The second launch, performed on 6 May 2013, which followed a considerably more demanding flight profile and carried the type's first commercial payload, was also successful. In the aftermath of this second launch,
European Space Agency (ESA) declared the Vega rocket to be "fully functional". The lapse of more than one year between the inaugural flight and the second one was mainly due to the fact that the Italian manufacturer had to completely redevelop the Flight Control Software, due to the restrictions on French export control imposed on the software used on the first flight. Since entering commercial service, Arianespace markets Vega as a launch system tailored for missions to
polar and
Sun-synchronous orbits. During its qualification flight, Vega placed its main payload the
LARES satellite, into a circular orbit at the altitude of with an
inclination of 69.5°. == Specifications ==