European Space Agency and Arianespace's medium-lift Vega C lift off on Tuesday, December 20 at 8:47 pm, carrying two satellites for Airbus' Pleides Neo Earth-imaging constellation.
The rocket's first stage called P120C successfully did its part, but the second stage called Zefiro 40 failed to launch the satellites to orbit to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Unfortunately, the second stage malfunctioned, destroying the Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 imaging satellites it was carrying.
What Happened?
After four minutes of liftoff, on-screen data revealed that the rocket was diverting from its planned trajectory during the burn of the rocket's second stage, SpaceNews reported. Arianespace later said that the stage malfunctioned 2 minutes and 27 seconds after liftoff, just a few seconds after the stage was ignited.
The flight lasted several minutes, including the separation of the second stage and ignition of the third stage, as well as the separation of the payload fairing, even as the stage reached an apogee of 110 kilometers and began to fall back to Earth.
Stéphane Israël, chief executive of Arianespace, said on a launch webcast a few minutes after the unfortunate event that in the first stage of the Vega, an underpressure was noted on the Zefiro-40, the second stage of the Vega following the liftoff and nominal ignition of the P120C,
Israel did not provide additional details on the problem and just said that they are working with all partners to better understand why the second stage did not work properly, triggering the failure of the mission. He apologized to Airbus Defence and Space for what happened and ended the launch webcast.
But an initial study revealed a reduction in pressure in the segment's combustion chamber, as per BBC News. Real-time flight tracking revealed that the rocket was unable to sustain its planned trajectory, prompting Vega to self-destruct. The vehicle, together with its Pléiades Neo Earth surveillance satellites, fell into the Atlantic.
Arianespace chief technical officer Pierre-Yves Tissier said that the launcher securely landed in the international sea zone and certified that all of the flight data was secure.
About Vega C
According to NASA Spaceflight.com, Vega C is Arianespace's newest four-stage launch vehicle. The rocket was presented in July 2022 as the newest member of the Vega rocket family and is an update to the original Vega rocket.
The first and second stages of the Vega-C each have a new solid rocket motor, the third stage is identical to the Vega, and the fourth stage is an updated version of the original Vega's fourth stage.
Vega is Arianespace's small-class satellite launcher. Since its debut in 2012, the Vega family has flown 21 times, with 19 missions successfully completed. Vega-C took its first flight on VV21, which was managed by the ESA. VV22 was Arianespace's first Vega-C mission.
Arianespace can now launch 3.3 metric tons into low-Earth orbit (LEO) and 2.3 metric tons into SSO because of Vega C's improved performance. The Vega C rocket can take two Pléiades Neo satellites into orbit, whereas the previous Vega rocket could only lift one satellite at a time to SSO due to the former's greater mass-to-orbit.
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