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Feature story

The launch site infrastructure for Arianespace's new Vega vehicle begins taking shape at the Spaceport in French Guiana

Paris Air Show 2005 - Le Bourget, France

June 15, 2005

The development of Arianespace's newest - and smallest - launch vehicle is moving ahead on schedule for a 2008 commercial service introduction of the four-stage Vega launcher at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Developed in an Italian-led program, the Vega launcher will begin commercial service in 2008.

Vega is designed to deliver satellites weighing from 300 kg. to 2,000 kg. into polar and low-Earth orbits that are used for many scientific and Earth observation missions.

With the goal of making access to space easier and less expensive, Vega's costs are being kept to a minimum through the application of advanced low-cost technologies, and by creating an optimized synergy with existing Ariane production and launch site facilities.

The Spaceport's ELA-1 launch complex - which initially hosted the Ariane 1-3 launcher versions - is being refurbished for its new operational life with Vega. Claude Berna, Arianespace's Vega Program Director, said ELA-1's original structure has been dismantled, while the concrete foundation and flame ducts are being retained.

Construction of ELA-1's new Vega launch table, umbilical mast and mobile service tower will begin this summer, with qualification of the ground infrastructure targeted for the summer of 2007.

Vega launchers will be built up on the launch pad, and a minimum interval between missions of approximately one month. Current planning foresees a launch rate of 2-4 Vega missions annually.

The launch control for Vega will be situated in the Spaceport's no. 3 Launch Center, where operator consoles will be located in-between the two control facilities currently used for Ariane 5 missions. "This co-location of launch control activity ensures that Vega operations will be fully coherent with those of Ariane 5," Berna explained.

To further expand Vega's payload capability, an auxiliary platform for mico- and mini-sized satellites is being developed. This follows the same philosophy used for many years by Arianespace on its Ariane family of vehicles in order to open commercial space access to a wide variety of users.