The stakes are high for Europe and for Avio, the Italian industrial prime contractor for the launcher. If the mission succeeds, space Europe will once again fully walk on its two legs: on the one hand with Ariane 6, to put heavy loads into orbit (up to 11.5 tonnes in geostationary orbit), and on the other another with Vega C, suitable for placing light loads into orbit (up to 2.3 tonnes in low polar orbit). With two complementary launchers, its autonomy of access to space would be assured.
Prepared against competition from mini-launchers
The so-called VV25 mission will be all the more scrutinized as it is the return to operation of this launcher after the failure of its first commercial flight in December 2022. Ten minutes after takeoff, the Vega C rocket, which carried two satellites from Airbus Defense and Space, had deviated from its trajectory. The reason: a failure that occurred on the second stage engine, the Zefiro 40. Avio engineers, helped by those from ESA and CNES, have since rectified the situation. Last May and October, at the Sardinian Salto di Quirra test center, tests with a new design of the engine nozzles were successfully carried out.
Now in charge of its marketing, Avio is banking heavily on the latest version of the Vega launcher. Vega C (as consolidated, editor’s note) is in fact a technically and commercially optimized version of Vega. For the same price, the current version has a payload capacity increased by 60% and can deliver its payloads to three different orbits, compared to two for its previous version.
Four flights planned in 2025
Avio will thus be better able to face competition from the new generation of European mini-launchers (the Spanish PLD Space, the French Maia Space and Latitude, the Germans RFA and Rocket Lab, etc.), most of which have plans to increase their capacities.
Arianegroup is also affected by this shot. In fact, the Ariane 6 P120C boosters are made from the first stage of the Vega C rocket. This synergy allows them to be mass produced at several dozen units per year and to reduce the costs of both programs.
Arianespace must carry out four additional Vega C launches in 2025 before passing the torch to Avio to ensure continued operations. The Italian industrialist already has in the pipeline a new, more powerful version of its three-stage launcher, Vega E (like Evolution), whose maiden flight is planned for 2026.
