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By the numbers

• The Soyuz launch vehicle has been in continuous production since 1957, demonstrating its unmatched reliability with more than 1,700 missions to date.
• Vega is scheduled to enter operation in 2011 with a target payload lift capability of 1,500 kg. on missions to a 700-km. circular orbit.

Soyuz & Vega at the Spaceport

Preparations for the Soyuz and Vega launcher at French Guiana enter a new phase

July 25, 2008

One of the containers with Vega launcher components is unloaded from the MN Colibri at Kourou's Pariacabo port.

Preparatory activity for the introduction of Soyuz and Vega at Europe’s Spaceport has marked two important milestones as new hardware begins arriving in French Guiana.

On July 9, elements for the lightweight Vega launcher were delivered to Kourou’s Paricabo port by the MN Colibri – which is one of two seagoing vessels used by Arianespace to transport launch vehicle components from Europe. 

These components are full-scale models of the Vega’s Zefiro 23 second stage, Zefiro 9 third stage, and the AVUM upper stage, along with diverse equipment, tooling and structures from the Italian industrial partners in the Vega launch vehicle’s ELV consortium.

This hardware – along with Vega’s first stage, which is filled with its solid propellant load onsite at French Guiana – will be used for the launcher’s qualification with the launch site infrastructure.

In parallel activity, a container ship filled with Russian-built equipment for the Spaceport’s new Soyuz launch complex is now en route for South America, having departed the port of Saint Petersburg on July 8.

The Flinterland departed St. Petersburg on July 8 with 160 containers of Soyuz launch site hardware, equipment and systems.

A total of 160 containers were loaded on the vessel, called the Flinterland, for its trans-Atlantic voyage, which will take about 16 days.

The equipment is from the Samara Space Center, as well as KBOM and NPO Lavotchkine – the primary Russian companies participating in the program to bring Soyuz launch operations to the Guiana Space Center.

Hardware carried aboard the Flinterland includes the service cabin, which is a major element of the Soyuz launch system that provides access to the vehicle on its launch pad. 

Various infrastructure items needed for the operation of Soyuz and its Fregat upper stage also are on the Flinterland.