(Kourou) The last take-off of a launcher Vegascheduled for Tuesday from Kourou in French Guiana, has been postponed by 24 hours, Arianespace announced.
“Due to electrical problems with ground connections,” the launch was “interrupted” three hours before the launch, Arianespace said on the X network. Initially scheduled for Tuesday at 10:50 p.m. local time (9:50 p.m. Eastern time), the launch was postponed by 24 hours.
This is the last mission of the Italian launcher. Vegafrom the Avio firm, in service since 2012, before the handover to Vega Can improved and more powerful version, grounded since 2022 after an accident.
This last mission Vegacalled VV24, will place its passenger, the satellite Sentinel-2C of the European Union’s Copernicus programme, in sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 780 km. It will be placed in orbit 57 minutes after take-off.
Part of the Earth observation space programme, the area in which Europe excels, the satellite Sentinel-2C will support a wide range of operational applications, including agriculture, water quality monitoring, management of natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes or floods as well as detection of methane emissions.