The Vega C warms up the engines

Everything is ready for the launch of the ESA on the agenda on 13 July at 13,13 Italian time. A lot of Italy in the mission that also brings the Lares 2 of the ASI into orbit.

Everything is ready for the inaugural launch of the new one pitcher European Vega C. (Consolidation) of'Esa whose flight VV21 is currently scheduled for 13 July next at 08,13 (local time), from the European launch base of Kourou, in French Guiana, when in Italy it will be 13,13. The new generation Vega-C it increases the performance and competitiveness of its predecessor Vega with a P120C first stage in common with Ariane 6, a Zefiro 40 second stage and a decidedly enhanced Avum + fourth stage.

For the launch, the leaders of ESA, with the CEO Josef Aschbacher, and of the ASI with the president are expected in Kourou Giorgio Saccoccia, together with the top management of the major industrial realities of the Avio mission, with the CEO Giulio Ranzo, and Arianespace, with the CEO Stephane Israel.

On board the new European launcher Vega C. ofThat, made largely by the Italian Avio a colleferro, at the gates of Rome, there is a lot of Italy. Starting with the main payload Lares2, ASI scientific satellite that flies together with 6 other cubesats chosen by theThat: Astrobio by Inaf and Asi, Alpha by Arca Dynamics, Greencube of La Sapienza University, joined by two other French cubesats MtCube-2 and Celesta from the University of Montpellier, and a Slovenian cubesat Trisat-R from the University of Maribor .

Lares2 is a scientific satellite of the Italian Space Agency (Asi) created by the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Infn) on a project by the researchers of the Fermi Center and the 'La Sapienza' University of Rome and for which Ohb Italia created the release system. The objective of the Lares 2 mission is to measure with even greater accuracy the so-called Frame-Dragging effect, a distortion of space-time caused by the rotation of a massive body such as the Earth, as predicted by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.

Lares 2 also kicks off with a maiden flight of the new Vega C launcher just like its predecessor Lares launched in 2012 as the main payload of Vega's maiden flight. In analyzing the Vega C., the Italian Space Agency stressed that the new ESA European launcher also has a greater load capacity that goes from 1,5 to about 2,2 tons in polar orbit. In addition, the Avum + upper stage has a greater liquid propellant capacity, capable of putting more payloads into orbit in the same mission on different orbits depending on the needs of the market and to allow longer operational times in space and longer missions, it has added the Asi.

Henry Cavallini, responsible So of the Space Transport Unit, Orbiting and Surface Infrastructures and In-Orbit Servicing, found that "with Vega-C, after the success of the Vega launcher starting from its first flight in 2012, the Italian positioning in the sector of access to the European Area of ​​payloads for low orbits is consolidated, providing the European institutional market and the international commercial market with a more performing launcher (+ 50% of the payload), flexible and at the same time more competitive "

The Vega C warms up the engines