The second mission of Europe’s new Vega C rocket did not go according to plan.
The medium-light Vega C lifted off from the European space station in Kourou, Guyana on Tuesday (Dec. 20) at 8:47 pm EST (10:47 pm local; 0147 GMT on Dec. 21), carrying two satellites for Airbus’ Pleiades Neo Earth’s imagination is a star.
The first stage of the rocket, known as the P120C, did its job. but in the second degree, which is called Zephyrus 40, he did not know.
“Approximately 2 minutes and 27 seconds after liftoff an anomaly occurred in Zefiro 40, thus ending the Vega C mission,” representatives of Arianespace, the French company that operates Vega C, said in an emailed statement on Tuesday night. “Data analyzes are in progress to determine the reasons for this failure.”
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Vega C is developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operated by Arianespace.
The 115-foot-long (35-meter), four-stage rocket is an advanced version of the Vega, which first flew in 2012. The Vega C can haul about 5,070 pounds (2,300 kilograms) of payload to a 435-mile-high (700-kilometer) sun-synchronous orbit. compared to 3,300 pounds (1,500 kg) for older rockets, according to Arianespace (Opens in a new tab).
Two spacecraft were lost due to the failure of Mars, Pleiades Neo 5 and Pleiades Neo 6, each weighing 4,359 pounds (1,977 kg). The two were launched in sun-synchronous orbit, where Airbus’ Pleiades completed the Neo Earth-imagining constellation.
“The satellite is made of four identical satellites using new Airbus innovations and technological developments, and allows to image any group, several times a day, at 30-centimeters. [12 inches] resolution, “Arianespace wrote in the Vega C mission description.” (Opens in a new tab).
“Extremely agile and reactive, they can be weighed up to 15 minutes before acquisition and send images back to Earth within an hour,” Arianespace added. it will be available”.
The Vega C had one flight under its belt before Tuesday. In July 2022, the rocket successfully launched LARES-2, a 650-pound (295 kg) rocket developed by the Italian Space Agency, as well as six cubesat vehicles.
The Mars mission was originally supposed to take place on Nov. 24. It was released in November. However, Arianespace delayed that repair for almost a month due to faulty equipment on the rocket, which required processing. open the Vega C payload fairing (Opens in a new tab) to the processing facility in Kourou.
In addition, presumptive analyzes try to determine if faulty equipment has something to do with the launch failure. We learn more on Wednesday (Dec. 21); Arianespace plans to hold a media teleconference at 10 am EST (1500 GMT).
Mike Wall is the author of “There you go (Opens in a new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (Opens in a new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (Opens in a new tab) or * Facebook (Opens in a new tab).
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