In Avio, where Vega C was born, the new European rocket with an Italian heart ready for take-off, they don’t have to be superstitious. The inaugural flight will in fact depart when in Italy it will be 13.13 on Wednesday 13 July, from the spaceport of Kourou, in French Guiana. And the maiden flight for the carrier built for the most part in the Colleferro factories, developed by Avio for the European Space Agency. More powerful and flexible, developed to meet the new needs of the space market. The first “Italian” rocket,
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Vega, took off ten years ago, in February 2012: twenty take-offs later, (two failures) it is the turn of Vega C, where “C” stands for “consolidation”: “It’s an adventure, there are many differences compared to Vega, which for us was the first time – says Ettore Scardecchia, Avio’s head of engineering during the pre-launch press conference – everything went well. Now we are better prepared, we know what awaits us. But we want to remain calm and concerted to avoid any risk. In any case it is the first time, sensations and emotions, it is always the first time “.
How the Italian Vega rocket was born (and how it works) that carries satellites into space
The first load
Its first task will be to bring it into orbit an experiment of the Italian Space Agency, the satellite Lares, a reflective sphere that will serve as a ‘target’ for ground lasers, designed to verify with greater accuracy one of the effects predicted by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Created by the Infn on a project by researchers from the Fermi Center and La Sapienza University, Lares 2 flies, like its predecessor Lares, on a rocket in its debut. In fact, Lares was the load of the inaugural launch of Vega. There will also be six Cubesats, three of which are Italian: Astrobio and Greencube, created respectively by the National Institute of Astrophysics (Inaf), Sapienza and Alpha of Arca Dynamics.
Flexibility and reduced costs
35 meters tall, like a ten-story building, weighing 210 tons, Vega C has performance improved by 50%. The satellites of the first load aboard Vega will have to be positioned in different orbits, so as to test the flexibility of the carrier for several customers with different needs. In fact, Lares 2, very light and without electronic components, will eventually have to reach an altitude of 6,000 kilometers. The fulcrum of this flexibility will be the fourth stage of Vega C, Avum +, which has the ability to be re-ignited to place loads at various heights: “Avum will light up five times – explains Beoit Pouffary manager of the Vega C launch system and engineering – the first two for the release of Lares, the successive for the insertion in orbit of the cubesats. The last to reach a parking orbit at the end ”.
The ogive, the cargo space, has a double volume compared to Vega. In the capsule at the head of the rocket, therefore, many more small satellites can be placed, to be released on different orbits thanks to the “Small Spacecraft Mission Service” (Ssms), a dispenser already successfully tested by its predecessor. Or Space rider, the unmanned European minishuttle, still under development, capable of remaining in orbit for a few months and then returning to earth. Inside, there will be room for experiments to be conducted in a microgravity environment.
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The other great advantage of the ESA launcher program is the cost reduction albeit with greater performance. This is largely due to the new P120c solid fuel engines. One of these constitutes the first stage of the launcher but will also be used in pairs by the new Ariane 6, the Arianegroup vector under development and whose debut is scheduled for 2023 (which in the Ariane 64 version uses 4 P120c). There production in scale will therefore make it possible to lower costs and consequently, specifies the director of launches of the European Space Agency, “the cost per kilo for loads”.
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The unknown Ukraine
The engines of the Avum module are produced in Ukraine from the Youjnoye company which is based in Dnipro. An element of uncertainty, especially for future orders. “We have a stock of engines in Italy – underlines Stefano Bianchi, ESA flight program manager – for the medium term there are no problems. For the long term we are studying different solutions to mitigate the risk: we are accelerating the development of the evolution of Vega C, Vega E, which will have a higher stage than liquid fuel, methane and oxygen. In the event of a supply interruption, we are evaluating backup solutions. But we hope to continue the collaboration with Ukraine, because they have been very reliable partners so far ”.
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Orders already in portfolio
For the near future, however, the commitments are already many. Nine flights booked before ‘baptism’, marketed by Arianespace, for European and foreign governments and institutions (i Copernicus of the European Commission, Flex and Altius for ESA, then missions for Thailand and Korea) “but in all there are 14, among those already signed and those that we are pretty sure will happen with Vega C – specifies Bianchi – the agenda is full for 2023, 2024 and 2025. The market has responded very well ”. The potential of the new carrier is first of all in a greater power. Vega C can carry up to 2,200 kilos in low earth orbit, one between 300 and 1,000 kilometers high. These are the altitudes at which the Earth observation satellites and the new connection constellations such as Starlink and OneWeb travel.