Arianspace’s Vega Rocket Launches Thailand’s THEOS-2 Earth-Observation Satellite, Taiwan’s Triton for Its VV23 Mission

French company Arianespace delivered 12 satellites into low earth orbit over the weekend via its lightweight Vega rocket. The primary payloads include satellites from Thailand and Taiwan.

Arianespace's Vega Rocket Delivers 12 Satellites

Arianespace's lightweight Vega rocket launched on its penultimate mission on Sunday after a launch on Oct. 6 was abruptly aborted. Arianespace attempted to relaunch the payload after a scrub 48 hours prior. The scrub came about due to a measurement exceeding the maximum limit during the final countdown.

It lifted off from Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket carried the THEOS-2 (Thailand Earth Observation System-2), Taiwan's Triton (FORMOSAT-7R) weather satellite, and ten tiny satellites.

The launch was Arianespace's third mission of 2023. The Ariane 5 was retired after its final two flights in April and July, and Soyuz operations from Kourou were halted following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As a result, the Arianespace fleet is currently only comprised of the Vega and its successor, the Vega-C. Since November 2021, this will be the maiden launch of the original Vega - the mission is known as VV23.

The modified Vega-C rocket will take the place of the original Vega rocket. It features a larger payload capacity and a new first-stage P120C solid rocket motor created for the next Ariane 6 spacecraft, introducing commonality and lowering costs.

Vega-C had its first flight in August 2022, but its most recent launch in December failed to place it in orbit. The Vega family's first expedition following that failure is VV23.

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More About the VV23 Mission

The VV23 mission will transport twelve satellites aboard the Vega rocket. The main payloads are THEOS-2 and Triton. However, there are also other spacecraft on board that Arianespace refers to as "auxiliary payloads" that are CubeSats in various configurations.

The Thai Earth Observation System (THEOS) includes the Earth-observing satellite THEOS-2, which will be controlled by Thailand's government-run Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA). Meanwhile, the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA - originally the National Space Organization or NSPO) built Triton, also known as FORMOSAT-7R, a small experimental weather satellite.

The CubeSat standard, which establishes common form factors for tiny satellite missions based on a cube (U) design unit measuring 10 centimeters along each axis, was used in constructing all ten auxiliary payloads onboard Vega. A single CubeSat (or a portion of a unit) may be built or constructed to occupy many units. These units specify the external measurements of the CubeSat but do not split the actual spacecraft. The 12-unit (12U) Proba-V Companion CubeSat (PVCC), which measures three units along its long axis and two units on its other two axes, is the largest CubeSat on the mission.

This European Space Agency (ESA) mission will function as a technological demonstrator and a research satellite for Earth sciences. A single telescope with short-wave infrared (SWIR), visible, and near-infrared (VNIR) sensors makes up its imaging payload. This was first created as a ground backup for the Vegetation (VGT) payload, which consisted of three similar instruments and was launched in May 2013 by Vega as part of the VV02 mission.