List of Vega launches

Vega is an expendable launch system in use by Arianespace which was jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Development began in 1998 and the first launch took place from the Guiana Space Centre on 13 February 2012.^[1]

Vega rocket before liftoff with Sentinel-2A

It is designed to launch small payloads — 300 to 2,500 kilograms (660 to 5,510 lb) satellites for scientific and Earth observation missions to polar and low Earth orbits.^[2] The reference Vega mission is a polar orbit bringing a spacecraft of 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) to an altitude of 700 kilometres (430 mi).

The rocket, named after the star Vega,^[3] is a single-body launcher (no strap-on boosters) with three solid rocket stages: the P80 first stage, the Zefiro 23 second stage, and the Zefiro 9 third stage. The upper module is a liquid rocket called AVUM. The improved version of the P80 stage, the P120C, is also used as the side boosters of the Ariane 6. Italy is the leading contributor to the Vega program (65%), followed by France (13%).^[4] Other participants include Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.^[5]

Launch statistics

Rocket configurations

5

10

15

20

'12

'13

'14

'15

'16

'17

'18

'19

'20

'21

'22

'23

'24

'25

•   Vega
•   Vega C
•   Vega C (scheduled)

Launch outcomes

5

10

15

20

'12

'13

'14

'15

'16

'17

'18

'19

'20

'21

'22

'23

'24

'25

•   Failure
•   Success
•   Scheduled

Orbits

1

2

3

'12

'13

'14

'15

'16

'17

'18

'19

'20

'21

'22

'23

'24

'25

•   LEO
•   SSO
•   TAO
•   Halo orbit Earth sun L1
•   HEO

Past launches

Note: Date and time of start (as count-down zero, ignition or lift-off?) is listed in UTC. (Although local time at Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, South America is UTC−3.)

2013–2019

Flight	Date / time (UTC)[6]	Rocket	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch Outcome
VV01	13 February 2012 10:00:00	Vega	ELV	LARES ALMASat-1 e-st@r Goliat MaSat-1 PW-Sat ROBUSTA UniCubeSat-GG Xatcobeo		LEO	University of Bologna[7]	Success[citation needed]
	First Vega launch; Geodetic and Nanosatellite;
VV02	7 May 2013 02:06:31	Vega	ELV	PROBA-V VNREDSat 1A ESTCube-1	254.83 kg (561.8 lb) [8]	SSO	ESA VAST University of Tartu	Success
	First commercial launch; Earth observation satellite;[9][10]
VV03	30 April 2014 01:35:15	Vega	ELV	KazEOSat 1	830 kg (1,830 lb)[11]	SSO	KGS	Success[citation needed]
	Earth observation satellite[12]
VV04	11 February 2015 13:40:00	Vega	ELV	IXV	1,845 kg (4,068 lb)[13]	TAO	ESA	Success[citation needed]
	Reentry technology demonstration; IXV deployed into a transatmospheric orbit, AVUM briefly entered a low Earth orbit before performing targeted de-orbit.[14][15][16][17][18]
VV05	23 June 2015 01:51:58	Vega	ELV	Sentinel-2A	1,130 kg (2,490 lb)[19]	SSO	ESA	Success
	Earth observation satellite[20][21][22][23]
VV06	3 December 2015 04:04:00	Vega	ELV	LISA Pathfinder	1,906 kg (4,202 lb)[24]	Halo orbit Earth–Sun L1	ESA / NASA	Success
	Technology demonstrator[25][26]
VV07	16 September 2016 01:43:35	Vega	ELV	PeruSat-1 4 × Terra Bella satellites	870 kg (1,920 lb)[27]	SSO	Peruvian Armed Forces Terra Bella	Success
	Reconnaissance satellite / Earth observation satellite[28][29]
VV08	5 December 2016 13:51:44	Vega	ELV	Göktürk-1A	1,060 kg (2,340 lb)[30]	SSO	Turkish Armed Forces	Success
	Earth observation satellite[31] (IMINT, Reconnaissance)
VV09	7 March 2017 01:49:24	Vega	ELV	Sentinel-2B	1,130 kg (2,490 lb)[32]	SSO	ESA	Success
	Earth observation satellite[33][34]
VV10	2 August 2017 01:58:33	Vega	ELV	OPTSAT-3000 VENμS	632 kg (1,393 lb)[35]	SSO	Italian Defense Ministry ISA/CNES	Success
	IMINT Earth observation satellite[36]
VV11	8 November 2017 01:42:31	Vega	ELV	Mohammed VI-A (MN35-13A)	1,110 kg (2,450 lb)[37]	SSO	Morocco	Success
	Earth observation satellite[38]
VV12	22 August 2018 21:20:09[39]	Vega	ELV	ADM-Aeolus[40][41][42]	1,357 kg (2,992 lb)[43]	SSO	ESA	Success
	Weather satellite
VV13	21 November 2018 01:42:31[44]	Vega	ELV	Mohammed VI-B (MN35-13B)[44]	1,108 kg (2,443 lb)[45]	SSO	Morocco	Success
	Earth observation satellite
VV14	22 March 2019 01:50:35[46]	Vega	ELV	PRISMA[47]	879 kg (1,938 lb)[48]	SSO	Italian Space Agency	Success
	Earth observation satellite
VV15	11 July 2019 01:53	Vega	ELV	Falcon Eye 1	1,197 kg (2,639 lb)	SSO	UAEAF[49]	Failure[50]
	IMINT (Reconnaissance) – The VV15 launch failure was possibly caused by a thermal protection design flaw on the second stage's forward dome area,[51] and led to reassignment of the FalconEye 2 launch.[52][53] This also led to the highest recorded amount (US$411.21 million) for an insurance claim for a satellite launch failure.[54]

2020–present

Flight	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customers	Launch Outcome
VV16	3 September 2020 01:51:10[55]	Vega	ELV	SSMS PoC Flight (53 satellites)		SSO	Various	Success
	Technology demonstration: launch of the Small Satellites Mission Service Dispenser (SSMS Dispenser) proof of concept flight carrying 53 microsatellites and CubeSats.[56]
VV17	17 November 2020 01:52:20[57]	Vega	ELV	SEOSat-Ingenio and TARANIS	925 kg (2,039 lb)	SSO	CDTI and CNES	Failure
	Earth observation satellite[58] and Study of the atmosphere of the Earth.[59] After ignition of the AVUM upper stage, a trajectory deviation caused failure. Satellites were valued at nearly US$400 million.[60] An assembly error (inverted control cable) was the suspected cause.[60]
VV18	29 April 2021 01:50[61]	Vega	ELV	Pléiades Neo 3 NorSat-3 Bravo ELO Alpha Lemur-2 × 2	1,278 kg (2,818 lb)	SSO	Airbus Defence and Space NOSA Aurora Insight Eutelsat Spire Global	Success
	Small Satellites Mission Service (SSMS) piggyback mission.
VV19	17 August 2021 01:47[62]	Vega	ELV	Pléiades Neo 4 BRO-4 LEDSAT RADCUBE SUNSTORM	1,029 kg (2,269 lb)	SSO	Airbus Defence and Space UnseenLabs Sapienza University of Rome ESA C3S Hungary Reaktor Space Lab	Success
	Small Satellites Mission Service (SSMS) piggyback mission.
VV20	16 November 2021 09:27:55[63]	Vega	ELV	CERES 1/2/3	1,548 kg (3,413 lb)	Semi-synchronous	CNES/DGA	Success
	SIGINT satellites.[64]
VV21	13 July 2022 13:13:17[65]	Vega C	ELV	LARES 2 ALPHA AstroBio CubeSat CELESTA GreenCube MTCube-2 TRISAT-R	350 kg (770 lb)	MEO	Italian Space Agency Sapienza University of Rome University of Montpellier University of Maribor	Success
	First flight of Vega C
VV22	21 December 2022 01:47:31[66]	Vega C	ELV	Pléiades Neo 5 & 6	1,977 kg (4,359 lb)	SSO	Airbus Defence and Space	Failure
	Earth observation satellites.[67] Failure due to loss of pressure of the Zefiro 40 second stage.[68]
VV23	9 October 2023 01:36[69]	Vega	ELV	THEOS-2 TRITON ANSER × 3 CSC × 2 ESTCube-2 MACSAT N3SS PRETTY PROBA-V CC		SSO	GISTDA TASA INTA ISISPACE Tartu Observatory OQ Technology CNES TU Graz Aerospacelab	Success
	Earth observation satellites and Small Satellites Mission Service (SSMS) #5 rideshare mission with 10 cubesats. Two cubesats, ANSER-Leader and ESTCube-2, failed to separate from the payload adapter and likely burned in the atmosphere together with the adapter when it was deorbited.[70]
VV24	5 September 2024 01:50	Vega	ELV	Sentinel-2C	1,143 kg (2,520 lb)	SSO	Airbus Defence and Space	Success
	Final flight of the base Vega configuration. Third Sentinel-2 Earth observation satellite.[71] The AVUM upper stage utilizes two propellant tanks from the larger AVUM+ upper stage of the Vega C rocket. These tanks underwent modifications after two of the original four tanks were discovered missing in 2023 and subsequently found crushed in a nearby landfill, rendering them unusable.[72][73]
VV25	5 December 2024 21:20	Vega C	ELV	Sentinel-1C	2,300 kg (5,100 lb)	SSO	ESA	Success
	Third Sentinel-1 satellite. Return to flight for Vega C following the VV22 launch failure.[74]
VV26	29 April 2025 09:15	Vega C	ELV	BIOMASS	1,131 kg (2,493 lb)	SSO	ESA	Success
	Earth observation satellite. Part of the Living Planet Programme.
VV27	26 July 2025 02:03	Vega C	ELV	CO3D × 4 + MicroCarb	1,320 kg (2,910 lb)	SSO	CNES	Success
	The CO3D (Constellation Optique en 3D) is an Earth observation satellite constellation providing daily 50 cm (20 in) resolution stereo imagery for global 3D mapping; MicroCarb is a microsatellite measuring atmospheric CO₂ with 1 ppm accuracy to track global sources and sinks.[75][76]

Future launches

Date / time (UTC)[6]	Rocket	Launch site	Payload	Orbit
September 2025[77]	Vega C VV28	ELV	SMILE	HEO
	Joint Chinese-European Earth observation satellite.
November 2025[78]	Vega C VV29	ELV	PLATiNO-2 / MAIA	SSO
	PLATiNO-2 will host the MAIA instrument payload.
Q4 2025[79]	Vega C VV30	ELV	IRIDE × ?	LEO
	First launch for the Italian IRIDE Earth observation satellite constellation.
Q3 2025[80]	Vega C	ELV	KOMPSAT-6 (Arirang-6)	SSO
	Earth observation satellite.
Q3 2025[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #9	LEO
	SSMS #9 rideshare mission. Delayed due to the VV22 Vega-C launch failure.[74]
Q3 2025[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #7	SSO
	SSMS #7 rideshare mission.
Q3 2025[82]	Vega C[83]	ELV	Sentinel-3C	SSO
	Third Sentinel-3 Earth observation satellite.[84]
Q3 2025[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #13	SSO
	SSMS #13 rideshare mission.
Q4 2025[79]	Vega C	ELV	IRIDE × ?	LEO
	Second launch for the Italian IRIDE Earth observation satellite constellation.
2025[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #8	SSO
	SSMS #8 rideshare mission.
TBD[85]	Vega C	ELV	PLATiNO-1	SSO
	Earth observation satellite.
2025[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #6	SSO
	SSMS #6 rideshare mission.
2025[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #10	SSO
	SSMS #10 rideshare mission.
2025[86]	Vega C	ELV	CSG-3	SSO
	Third COSMO-SkyMed 2nd Generation satellite.
2025[87][88]	Vega C[89]	ELV	SHALOM	SSO
	Joint Italian-Israeli hyperspectral imaging satellite.
January 2026[90]	Vega C	ELV	KOMPSAT-7 (Arirang-7)	SSO
	Earth observation satellite[91][92]
Q2 2026[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #14	SSO
	SSMS #14 rideshare mission.
Q3 2026[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #15	LEO
	SSMS #15 rideshare mission to an equatorial orbit.
Q3 2026[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #16	LEO
	SSMS #16 rideshare mission to an equatorial orbit.
Q4 2026[82]	Vega C[83]	ELV	CO2M-A (Sentinel-7A)	SSO
	Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring. Part of the Copernicus Programme.
2026[93]	Vega C	ELV	ALTIUS, FLEX	SSO
	ALTIUS is an ozone observation satellite. FLEX is an Earth observation satellite of the Living Planet Programme.
2026[94]	Vega C	ELV	ClearSpace-1	LEO
	Space debris removal demo.
2026[95]	Vega C	ELV	CSG-4	SSO
	Fourth COSMO-SkyMed 2nd Generation satellite.
2026[96]	Vega C	ELV	EAGLE-1	LEO
	Demonstrator satellite for the first European sovereign space-based quantum key distribution system.[97]
Q1 2027[82]	Vega C[83]	ELV	CO2M-B (Sentinel-7B)	SSO
	Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring. Part of the Copernicus Programme.
Q2 2027[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #17	LEO
	SSMS #17 rideshare mission.
2027[98]	Vega C+	ELV	Space Rider	LEO
	Technology demonstration[99]
2027[100][101]	Vega C[102]	ELV	FORUM	SSO
	Earth observation satellite. Part of the Living Planet Programme.
Q2 2028[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #18	LEO
	SSMS #18 rideshare mission.
Q4 2028[82]	Vega C[103]	ELV	CRISTAL (Sentinel-9)	Polar
	Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter. Part of the Copernicus Programme.
Q4 2028[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #19	LEO
	SSMS #19 rideshare mission.
2028[82]	Vega C[104]	ELV	Sentinel-3D	SSO
	Fourth Sentinel-3 Earth observation satellite.[84]
Q2 2029[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #20	LEO
	SSMS #20 rideshare mission.
Q3 2029[82]	Vega C[105]	ELV	CIMR-A (Sentinel-11A)	SSO
	Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer. Part of the Copernicus Programme.
Q4 2029[81]	Vega C	ELV	SSMS #21	LEO
	SSMS #21 rideshare mission.
2029[105]	Vega C	ELV	CHIME (Sentinel-10)	SSO
	Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission. Part of the Copernicus Programme.
2029[105]	Vega C	ELV	LSTM (Sentinel-8)	SSO
	Copernicus Land Surface Temperature Monitoring. Part of the Copernicus Programme.
2030[106]	Vega C	ELV	TRUTHS	LEO
	Traceable Radiometry Underpinning Terrestrial- and Helio-Studies.

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• List of Falcon 1 launches
• List of Electron launches
• Falcon 1
• PSLV

Notes