The European Vega rocket took off from Kourou for its final mission

The rocket launched into orbit the Sentinel-2C observation satellite, which is part of the Earth observation space program.

One last mission successfully completed. The Vega rocket took off on Wednesday, September 4 from Kourou, in French Guiana, and put an observation satellite into orbit. Initially scheduled for the day before but delayed by 24 hours due to “electrical problems on ground connections” According to Arianespace, the takeoff finally took place on Wednesday at 10:50 p.m. (3:50 a.m. in Paris).

Successful liftoff for the last Vega mission from Europe’s spaceport! 🚀

So far the trajectory is nominal ✅

Turn on the sound 🔊 #VV24 @CNES @ESA_EO @ESA_transport @Arianespace @AirbusSpace @CopernicusEU @EuropeanCommiss pic.twitter.com/J4zBconEWB

— Guiana Space Center (@EuropeSpacePort) September 5, 2024

The rocket was carrying the Sentinel-2C satellite of the European Union’s Copernicus programme, which was successfully placed in sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 775 km, 57 minutes and 27 seconds after launch, Arianespace later announced on X. As part of the Earth observation space programme, Sentinel-2C will support a wide range of operational applications, including water quality monitoring, management of natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes or floods and detection of methane emissions.

This mission, called VV24, was the last of the Italian Vega launcher, from the Avio firm, in service since 2012, before the handover to Vega C, an improved and more powerful version, but grounded since 2022 after an accident that caused the loss of two Airbus satellites. Two months after the inaugural flight of the Ariane 6 rocket, this mission “is the second part of the restoration of European spatial autonomy and strategic autonomy“, reacted Philippe Baptiste, president of the National Center for Space Studies, to AFP.

The success of the first flight of Ariane 6, which was four years late to complete, in early July gave wings to Europeans and marked the end of the “black” year during which the Old Continent was deprived of access to space. The resumption of flights of their launchers is all the more strategic for the Europeans as they are struggling to compete with the American giant SpaceX, which launches its reusable Falcon 9 rockets around twice a week.