Vega, Vega-C,...

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Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  2 мин.2 минуты назад  
ESA officials: New Vega-C 1st stage also gives added margin to Ariane 6 rocket, for which it is the strap-on booster. Ariane 6 set for 2020.
 
  Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  5 мин.5 минут назад  
ESA officials: Upgraded Vega-C's inaugural flight slips from 2018 to 2019 to accommodate newly designed 1st stage for 10% performance boost.
 
  Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  3 ч.3 часа назад  
Airbus Safran Launchers chief Charneau: We're confident the tax issues re Safran payment to Airbus to create ASL will be resolved in April.

[silentpom]

первая ступень будет C-132?

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http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/forum/messages/forum13/topic906/message1381581/#message1381581

[silentpom]

ну если они увеличат производительност C120 на 10% то логично ее и назвать подругому

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А чем Вас не устраивает P120? Ведь P80 после увеличения топливного заряда до 88 тонн никто не переименовывал.

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Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  3 ч.3 часа назад  
Avio: 2015 rev was EUR 280M ($306M), up 27% from 2014. 50% is Ariane 5, 45% Vega, 5% is tactical propulsion.
   
 
  Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  4 ч.4 часа назад
Cinven Avio board member Robert Italia: 'We've been approached by potential Avio buyers since even before we bought the company in 2006.'
 
  Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  4 ч.4 часа назад  
ESA's Woerner to Avio re: Vega-Ariane 6 tension: 'If you kick out one of the elements of the launcher family, you destroy the family.'
 
  Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  4 ч.4 часа назад  
Italian Space Agency's Battiston: 'The closest thing we've got in Europe to SpaceX is Avio w/ its vertical integration of the Vega rocket.'

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http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/vega-users-day-arianespace-and-elvavio-meet-vega-clients-and-partners-to-build-foundations-for-the-future/

Jun 23, 2016   
Vega Users' Day: Arianespace and ELV/Avio meet Vega clients and partners to build foundations for the future

Arianespace and ELV/Avio are organizing the second Vega Users' Day on July 7 and 8, 2016 in Rome.
                            
Stéphane Israël, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace, Giulio Ranzo, CEO of AVIO, and Pierluigi Pirrelli, CEO of ELV, will be hosting a meeting with all customers and partners on Europe's light launch vehicle to review its operations and performance in the commercial and government markets. The other aim of this meeting is to lay solid foundations for the future, with the advent of the upgraded Vega-C launcher. Arianespace will start marketing Vega-C missions starting at the end of 2016, with a first launch slated for 2019.

 

Vega Users' Day

Organized by Arianespace and ELV/Avio, Vega Users' Day brings together partners in Europe's light launcher program (mainly manufacturers and space agencies, including ESA, ASI and CNES), as well as customers and prospects. The event, taking place in Rome on July 7-8, will feature both plenary sessions and workshops, culminating in a visit to the launcher production facilities in Colleferro.

 

Success built on a fruitful partnership between ESA, ELV/AVIO and Arianespace

Vega is a European Space Agency (ESA) program funded by Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. The launcher design authority and prime contractor is ELV/AVIO, an Italian joint venture between Avio (70%) and the Italian space agency ASI (30%). Arianespace markets and operates this light launcher, alongside the Ariane 5 heavy launcher and the Soyuz medium launcher.
Since its first launch from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana in 2012, Vega has chalked up a total of six missions, all successful. This impressive track record has not only shown the launcher's operational potential, but also its versatility over a wide range of missions: into Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit (Sentinel-2A), ballistic reentry (IXV), transfer orbit to the L1 Lagrange point (LISA Pathfinder). The success of the LISA Pathfinder mission on behalf of ESA in November 2015 marked the end of the formal Vega development phase (designated VERTA: Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment) and kicked off its commercial operation.
The Vega launch manifest now includes ten missions, with a focus on Earth observation satellites. One-third of these missions are for European institutions, and two-thirds for export customers. Two missions are planned this year:
 

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• PeruSAT-1 and SKySat for Peru and the startup Terra Bella
• Göktürk for Turkey.
  

Vega-C, a step into the future

Scheduled to start launches in 2019, Vega-C offers a significant performance improvement over the current model, in terms of payload weight and volume. That means even broader mission capability, which in turns improves the competitiveness of this launch system.
Arianespace will start marketing Vega-C launches as soon as the end of 2016.
During this meeting, Arianespace Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Israël said: "With six successful launches under its belt and ten more in the order book, Vega has proven its operational performance and commercial attractiveness. Vega Users' Day, bringing together customers, prospects and partners, is a key to the development of the upgraded Vega-C planned as soon as 2019, which will be even more competitive and more completely address market requirements."
Giulio Ranzo, CEO of AVIO, added: "Vega has confirmed its capability as a very competitive and flexible launcher. This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet potential customers from all over the world and share with them the latest successes of our launcher, thus paving the way for future missions."

About Arianespace

To use space for a better life on earth, Arianespace guarantees access to space transportation services and solutions for any type of satellite, commercial as well as institutional, into any orbit. Since 1980, Arianespace has performed missions placing more than 500 satellites into orbit with its three launchers, Ariane, Soyuz and Vega, from French Guiana in South America and Baikonur in Kazakhstan. Arianespace is headquartered in Evry, France near Paris, and has a facility at the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, plus local offices in Washington, D.C., Tokyo and Singapore.

About AVIO

AVIO Group is an international leader in the space launcher sector and in spacecraft propulsion and space travel. It has five sites in Italy, France and French Guiana, and employs over 800 people. In 2015, it generated about €280 million in revenue. AVIO Group is responsible for the Vega  launcher, with its subsidiary ELV (30% owned by the Italian Space Agency ASI) as prime contractor. This makes Italy one of very few countries in the world able to produce a complete space launch vehicle.

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Getting Vega's launch tower moving

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https://tk.parp.gov.pl/attachments/article/47641/15.%20Angelo%20Fontana%20Avio.pdf
 

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http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/publications/ESA-Bulletin-164/

VEGA EVOLUTION AND VEGA C

Since the approval of the programme in 2012, the launch vehicle configuration is being defined and then the launch base modified. Activities at launch vehicle system level are progressing to plan with the start of the Vega C Launch System implementation, after completion of the Launch System Requirements Key Point. Having frozen the Launch System Requirements and the internal and external interfaces among the launch vehicle and launch base components, it is now possible to proceed with the launch vehicle PDR for the configuration constituted by the P120C/ Z40/ Z9/AVUM+ /Standard Payload Fairing, planned for early 2016, and with the placement of the industrial contracts for the start of the launch base industrial activities.
Considering that a significant number of ground facilities will be need to be changed for Vega C while still in operation for Vega, a joint plan will be implemented to avoid either introduction of delays in Vega C development because of Vega exploitation or vice versa. The elaboration of the plan will start with completion the Launch System Requirements Key Point in December. Activities for AVUM+ BERTA configuration are going according to plan. An important BERTA Key Point was held in October, which showed no technical issues at system level.

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Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  
Fabio Caramelli of ESA discusses creating a "bus service to space" multimanifesting 15+ smallsats on Vega launches. #smallsat
  8:41 - 7 авг. 2016 г.

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http://spacenews.com/qa-avio-ceo-ranzo-on-sharing-the-pie-with-germany-and-keeping-spacex-from-an-italian-contract/

Q&A | Avio CEO Ranzo on sharing the pie with Germany, and keeping SpaceX fr om an Italian contract
by Peter B. de Selding — November 28, 2016
 
Is this what a true European looks like? Maybe, or perhaps Avio chief Giulio Ranzo is making a virtue of a necessity. Either way, he says dividing Ariane 6 and Vega booster casing production with Germany should be a win-win for everyone in Europe's launch industry. Credit: Avio
 
The recent German-Italian agreement to divide production of casings for the future Ariane 6 rocket's strap-on boosters, which also serve as the first stage of the Italian-led Vega-C small-satellite launcher, was a victory for political harmony in Europe.
But what about the Ariane 6 and Vega business models?  Scrapping a single producer of casings, Avio SpA of Colleferro, Italy, in favor of dual sourcing with OHB-owned MT Aerospace of Augsburg, Germany, will reduce the scale economies that are part of the overall Ariane 6/Vega cost equation.
The German side argued that a new technology will reduce casing cost by 30 percent, compensating for the costs incurred in creating and maintaining two separate production lines.
In an interview, Avio Chief Executive Giulio Ranzo conceded the cost penalty with a divided production line but said the German technology, in addition to achieving political consensus in Europe, is worth the effort.
The current-generation Vega has successfully conducted its first seven missions. The eighth launch, of Turkey's Gokturk optical Earth observation satellite, is scheduled for Dec. 5.
Starting in 2019, the upgraded Vega Vega-C is expected to be operational. It has 50 percent more payload-carrying power than the current Vega, capable of placing 2,300 kilograms of satellite payload into a sun-synchronous orbit.
Ranzo discussed the ongoing effort to reduce Vega's production and operating costs, the bittersweet agreement with Germany and what he said was his firm intention to help Arianespace win contracts to launch Italy's two Cosmo-SkyMed-2 radar reconnaissance satellites.

To get Vega costs down you need to launch at least  three times at year?
A: Yes, and even more than three. We already did three last year. The flight frequency is mainly a case of whether the satellites are delivered on time. Arianespace has already sold 10 Vega launchers for the next three years so we presume an average rate of three per year

What about Vega operating costs at the European spaceport in French Guiana?
In each of the seven flights we have managed, we've reduced systematically the duration of the launch campaign, including the launcher's integration, down to a point where we have no more capacity bottlenecks at the launch site and can do four launches in a given year, perhaps even five.

How long is the campaign now?
Around 23 days. We can possibly trim it a little bit more. Arianespace has demonstrated it can do 12 launches a year between Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega, and we think we can do 15.

What is Avio's ambition in Arianespace?
We have an important partner in Arianespace and with Airbus Safran Launchers, the Ariane 6 prime contractor. We want to realize as many synergies as we can between the two prime contractors, Avio and ASL, to optimize cost and make the offer more competitive.
We have reached a consensus on the synergies. Vega-C and Ariane 6 will be so linked to each other with the first stage of Vega being the strap-on booster for Ariane 6 that both are incentivized together. The more we optimize one launcher, the more we optimize the other.

You are a big industrial player, but a small Arianespace shareholder.
We are a 3 percent shareholder in Arianespace. The issue here is not one of equity ownership. Arianespace is our sel ected gateway to the market. The equity share is irrelevant. It makes sense for ASL to have the majority stake. And once they have the majority it doesn't matter whether we have a 25 percent share or a 3 percent.

Italy and Germany agreed to divide production of the P120 casing between you and MT Aerospace of Germany on the assumption that MT's technology ultimately lowers production cost. What if it doesn't?
If we knew all the answers to new technology and new programs that would mean there is no challenge. This decision signals that European industry is truly making an effort for change, and even pointing at a target which they are not necessarily sure they will reach.
European member states have agreed to build a new family of launchers that needs to be much more cost competitive. The decision on the second production line doesn't surprise me. It's similar to other challenges were are having in many other parts of the launcher and the cost of ground operations.
We have big challenges and we accept them. We are confident that we can achieve good results.

Doesn't consolidating production all at one site reduce unit costs compared to running two separate facilities?
Yes, but I am an industrialist, not a policymaker. These are political-level decisions, not industrial. If Ariane 6 was mine, I would be doing it all in one place. But Ariane 6 is a European program that has the participation of many countries. We need to take that into account.

You sized the industrial plant in Colleferro for 35-40 boosters per year and gave Airbus Safran Launchers price quotes based on that. Now production will be divided. What is the effect on your operation?
It's more complicated than that. Avio has full responsibility for the integrated motor case, which is composed of many different parts — all ultimately assembled in Colleferro. So our production capacity is not cut by half.
Certain activities are going to be procured from Germany, hopefully with a more competitive technology that, overall, will make it more cost competitive. This is viable, and why not?
But the production activities will not be 50-50 between Germany and Italy. Only certain activities will be split 50-50. For example, the overall assembly of the insulated motor cases for P120, the external insulation, all the other equipment installed externally, will be done in Italy and then shipped to the launch site.

So all the production in Germany will be shipped to Colleferro before final departure?
That's correct. They will primarily be doing the booster case in carbon fiber material with a slightly different technology than ours. Then, for practical reasons, they will also apply the internal thermal protection. But to complete an insulated motor case, there are different parts that need to be assembled together, including the liner for the internal part of the motor case, which separates the internal core of the case from the propellant. It's a very delicate part and we are familiar with this because of course we manufacture propellant. We will install this for all the booster cases.
The external thermal production will also be installed by us as we have significant experience with that, as well as the overall finishing of the product, which will be done here.

The German minister responsible for space applauded the agreement as being a boost for Germany's return and great news for Germany.
Certainly it is good news for Germany that they are doing one-half of the carbon-fiber booster cases and the application of the internal thermal protection. If they are successful with this innovative technology, they will come up to speed being competitive and state of the art.
That's good for us as well, and all of European industry. Otherwise the current technology would very soon become obsolete. And I think for them it is good to stay in the game.

And if the cost savings don't materialize? Someone presumably will pay the bill, and I guess it's not Avio.
You can rest assured of that. The member states will at that point analyze the situation and determine what to do. But we will not just go to sleep and then wake up in 2025 and find out that unfortunately the cost is too high. It's a development path. As we approach different milestones, we will assess issues and define corrective actions.
The same question could be raised about any part of the Ariane 6 program, which is based on being extremely cost competitive: Are we sure that the cost targets will be met? If not, then what?
If we only set targets we were sure we could meet, I would tell you we are not building a competitive launcher.

When does the new production line start in Germany?
They will start to manufacture flight items by 2021, or 2022, depending on when their development is completed and qualified. Bu we have intermediate milestones to see how we're doing — in particular, in mid-2018, when we have an important milestone review. We will see then wh ere we stand.

So the full-up production capacity at Augsburg won't occur until Vega-C has been in operation for three years?
A: Around there, yes. The first first flight items for both Ariane 6 and Vega-C will be produced by us.

You sound remarkably cheerful about all this.
Look, every one of us would like to be king. We all would love to have everything for ourselves. But then we would not be participating in a cooperative effort in Europe. Again: If Ariane 6 was mine, I would want it all here! But that would not work because then you would not have sufficient financial resources for development.
Our system is very simple: collaboration and competitiveness. There's no way we can be successful if we don't apply the two. At this juncture, Germany will contribute significant resources for development and contribute resources to achieve more competitiveness. If these two things work together, I will be happy. If they don't, then we will analyze the situation.

Is Vega-C is still on schedule for a 2019 flight?
Yes, mid-2019 for the first flight.

Could Vega-C lift a second-generation Cosmo-SkyMed radar Earth observation satellite being built for the Italian government?
A: Vega-C will be fit for either of the two satellites being built. But we need to see when the first of them is actually ready for flight. And then we will see whether it will fly with Vega-C or with Soyuz or something else.

Like SpaceX?
Or SpaceX. But that would surprise me. The customer will analyze the tradeoffs between reliability and price and the European nature of the deal. I would happily advertise for the choice of Vega-C — no doubt about it. My role in marketing is within Arianespace and believe me, they are very vocal in advertising our products.

But on purely technical terms, you have done the engineering and Vega-C can lift a second-generation Cosmo-SkyMed?
Correct, and we definitely want to fly Cosmo-SkyMed. I will be very vocal with my Italian customer to make that happen. I will promote, with Arianespace, the idea that we will do the impossible to make it happen.

There have been tweets about SpaceX fr om Italy after a visit to SpaceX by ASI, the italian Space Agency.
Yes, but they come more often to visit me than to SpaceX in California. And a tweet is not a contract. Cosmo-SkyMed is a cooperation between ASI and the Italian Ministry of Defense. The decision probably won't be based on tweets.

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http://spacenews.com/european-space-agency-seeking-smallsats-for-2018-vega-mission/

European Space Agency seeking smallsats for 2018 Vega mission
by Caleb Henry — February 27, 2017

ESA and the European Commission want to prove Vega's usefulness in smallsat launch. Credit: ESA
 
WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency is seeking small satellites to share a Vega launch in late 2018.
The launch, part of the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) program that ESA initiated in 2014, is intended to demonstrate Vega's utility as a dedicated launcher for satellites weighing 1 to 400 kilograms. The mission will feature a new dispenser ESA is developing under the SSMS program to release multiple satellites from the same rocket.
Vega is the smallest rocket in European launch provider Arianespace's family of vehicles. It can carry up to 1,500 kilograms to a 700 kilometer low-Earth orbit. Minus a few exceptions over the course of its eight flights, the rocket has mainly launched government missions with payloads weighing several hundred kilograms.
ESA and the European Commission, in an announcement posted Feb. 13, said they are seeking "to identify and pre-select Candidate Spacecrafts for a first Vega flight based on SSMS hardware and processes."
ESA is targeting a sun-synchronous orbit between 500 and 800 kilometers for the 2018 mission, though the agency said it is open to sending the rocket to other orbits within Vega's 400 to 1,400-kilometer-altitude range. Using Vega's re-ignitable fourth-stage Attitude and Vernier Upper Module, known as AVUM, ESA said the mission can drop off satellites at two different orbits.
In its announcement of opportunity, ESA and the European Commission cautioned that the SSMS dispenser is still under development and might change. Current dispenser formats include multiple configurations, including carrying one bigger smallsat in the upper position with multiple smaller smallsats below, or carrying a greater number of smaller spacecraft.
ESA and the European Commission classify the small satellite types as either mini-satellites (200 to 400 kilograms), microsatellites (60 to 200 kilograms), nanosatellites (25 to 60 kilograms), and cubesats (1 to 25 kilograms). The configurations allow different combinations of launchable satellites based on mass and size. 

Digital rendering of possible smallsat configurations with Vega. Credit: ESA/European Commission

The 2018 Vega mission is the first launch opportunity created through the Light satellite, Low-cost Launch opportunity, referred to as LLL or L3, that ESA member states approved during December's ministerial conference in Lucerne, Switzerland. The purpose of L3 is to maximize the usefulness of the future Ariane 6 and Vega C launchers when they come online in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Vega C will have a slightly larger payload capability than the initial Vega. Italy's ELV SpA is building the rocket to lift at least 300 kilograms more payload without increasing costs. The strap-on boosters for Ariane 6 will use the same P120C engines as Vega C's first stage, enabling larger production quantities and resulting in lower prices through economies of scale.
Vega's next launch is currently scheduled for March 7, carrying the Sentinel-2B Earth observation satellite for the European Commission's Copernicus program.

[Salo]

https://www.laspace.ru/upload/novator/№14_16.pdf

ЭКСПОРТНЫЙ ПОТЕНЦИАЛ

5 декабря с космодрома Куру во Французской Гвиане состоялся запуск европейской ракеты-носителя «Вега».
История сотрудничества НПО имени С.А. Лавочкина с итальянской компанией AVIO, которая является одним из разработчиков РН «Вега», началась в 2003 году с подписания контракта на разработку конструкции топливного бака и поставку научно-технической документации для четвертой ступени данной европейской ракеты-носителя легкого класса.
В 2005 году был заключен новый контракт, который включал в себя поставку первого летного комплекта топливных баков.
В рамках контракта предполагалось изготовление и поставка девяти топливных баков из алюминиевого сплава и восьми титановых, а также эластичного вытеснительного устройства из композиционного фторопластового материала, уникальная разработка НПО имени С.А. Лавочкина, которая используется на многих космических аппаратах предприятия. Работы были выполнены в полном объеме и с положительным результатом.
Соисполнителем по контракту с компанией AVIO выступал ВПК «НПО машиностроения». На предприятии в г. Реутове Московской области изготавливались первые партии полусфер для баков РН «Вега». Совместными усилиями технологов НПО имени С.А. Лавочкина и НПО машиностроения удалось добиться требуемой толщины стенки по всему периметру полусферы, выполненной из титана по совершенно новой технологии – методом формования в условиях сверхпластичности. Освоение процессов обработки металлов давлением в условиях сверхпластичности обеспечивает высокое качество изделий при гораздо меньших энергозатратах. Особенно важно, что сверхпластичная деформация позволяет получать детали без припусков на механическую обработку или с минимальными припусками, что способствует повышению коэффициента использования металла.
В 2011 году НПО имени С.А. Лавочкина продолжает успешное сотрудничество с фирмой AVIO и заключает контракт на серийное производство восьми комплектов топливных баков из высокопрочного титанового сплава. По результатам летнокосмических испытаний РН «Вега» от Европейского космического агентства (ЕКА) и компании AVIO получена высокая оценка технического уровня, уникальности разработки и качества поставленной продукции.
С целью сокращения затрат на изготовление полусфер в ВПК «НПО машиностроения» в декабре 2014 года было принято решение по перемещению технологии изготовления полусфер в НПО имени С.А. Лавочкина. По результатам выполненных работ внедрена установка СДДС-2, проведены пуско-наладочные операции, выпущена документация по эксплуатации, разработан директивный технологический процесс, проведены обучение и аттестация персонала. Важно отметить, что внедрение систем управления режимами деформирования на установке СДДС-2 позволило повысить качество титановых полусфер и, как следствие, значительно улучшить экономические показатели предприятия.
Представленный отчет в фирму AVIO и ЕКА получил положительный отзыв и позволил заключить новый контракт на изготовление десяти комплектов топливных баков. В июне, сентябре и декабре 2016 года итальянской комиссией было принято три комплекта топливных баков, что позволило предприятию выполнить годовой план в полном объёме.
Прогрессивные организационные и технические решения по изготовлению титановых баков с эластичным вытеснительным устройством подтвердило выполнение всех технических требований заказчика и показало надежную работу при эксплуатации РН «Вега». 5 декабря 2016 года запуск европейской ракеты-носителя стал восьмым в рамках программы «Вега».
Поздравляем коллектив нашего предприятия с достижением высокого результата! Желаем в новом году плодотворной работы, неиссякаемой энергии и новых масштабных проектов!

Алексей ДЕМЕНТЬЕВ.
 

[Salo]

https://www.laspace.ru/upload/novator/№3_17.pdf

ИТОГИ ФЕВРАЛЯ, ПЛАНЫ НА МАРТ

Заместитель генерального директора по производству А.П. ТЮТЮННИКОВ.
Изготовлен и упакован 12-й комплект топливных баков VERTA для европейских партнеров. Изготавливаются корпуса для баков 13 комплекта и полусферы для комплекта 14.

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http://spacenews.com/european-commission-commits-to-annual-minimums-for-ariane-6-vega-c/

European Commission commits to annual minimums for Ariane 6, Vega C
by Caleb Henry — April 5, 2017
 Elzbieta Bienkowska, the European Commission's lead space commissioner, speaking April 5 at the 33rd Space Symposium. Credit: Tom Kimmell
 
COLORADO SPRINGS — The European Commission will commit to buying at least five Ariane 6 and two Vega C launches per year when both rockets are in operation, Elzbieta Bienkowska, the European Commission's lead space commissioner, said Wednesday.
Airbus Safran Launchers and Arianespace have said that closing the business case for Ariane 6 and Vega C will require a firm government commitment to use the new rockets.
Speaking at the 33rd Space Symposium here, Bienkowska acknowledged that the European Commission had heard these concerns and would ensure European governments collectively serve as an anchor customer for the launchers.
"We will aggregate our institutional launches to support those two launchers," she said.
In an interview with SpaceNews after her speech, Bienkowska said this aggregated demand would support the annual five Ariane 6 and two Vega C launches that Ariane 6 prime contract Airbus Safran Launchers and launch provider Arianespace had pegged as the needed amount.
Ariane 6 is the successor to the Ariane 5 and Europeanized Soyuz; Vega C is an improved version of Vega, and will use the same first-stage engine as Ariane 6's strap-on boosters.
Bienkowska also said Europe's confidence in the suitability of Ariane 6 and Vega C, both of which are single-use rockets, remains unshaken by the early success of SpaceX and Blue Origin in demonstrating their reusable rockets.
"We observe very closely the ongoing revolution in the launcher market, especially here in the United States, around the principle of reusability," she said. "Europe's answer is the development of the next-generation of cost effective, reliable and competitive European launchers: Ariane 6 and Vega C."

Leveling the playing field
Europe has long envied the large number of government launches provided to domestic launch entities in the United States and in Russia — home to Arianespace's two biggest competitors: Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX and Moscow-based Khrunichev.
For the past three years, SpaceX has performed two to three launches annually for U.S. government customers, mainly NASA, and is starting to win military launch contracts following Air Force certification in 2015. Prior to certification, the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance conducted nearly all U.S. military launches, often close to 10 per year, as well as some civil and commercial launches. Russia's Proton launches have been roughly half government, half commercial through Khrunichev's International Launch Services subsidiary.
"We are competing with launchers which are mostly dedicated to their domestic markets, which is a significant advantage, markets that most of the time are closed to other launchers," Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel told SpaceNews last month. "So it is absolutely normal that we organize institutional launches around European launchers."
"It is important, even vital for Ariane 6 and Vega C, to have this commitment from formal  European institutions," he added.
Israel said European government launches, at 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) annually, account for less than a third of Arianespace's 5-billion-euro contract backlog.  The U.S. launch market, according to Airbus Safran Launchers, is about 65-percent government demand. For  Russia's launch industry, the figure is closer to 76 percent.
Israel said a guarantee of annual launches would replace the roughly 100-million-euros-a-year Arianespace receives under Europe's Launchers Exploitation Accompaniment Programme to keep Ariane 5 in service.

[Salo]

 Peter B. de Selding‏ @pbdes  1 ч1 час назад
1st mechanical tests of P120C booster casing (Ariane 6 SRB/Vega-C 1st stage) completed by @Avio_Group. Next stop: prop tests at spaceport.
 

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Stéphane Israël‏ @arianespaceceo 32 мин. назад

Honored to have signed for #PRISMA with R.Aceti in presence of M.Fuchs, @Rb_Bat, A.Sirica, G.Ranzo #OHB Italia @ASI_spazio @Avio_Group #Vega

 
 
30 мин. назад

A new contract for #Vega: @arianespace to launch #PRISMA satellite in 2018 for OHB Italia on behalf of @ASI_spazio

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И пресс-релиз подоспел
http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/ohb-italia-on-behalf-of-the-italian-space-agency-and-arianespace-sign-contract-to-launch-prisma-italian-satellite/

Corporate | June 19, 2017

OHB Italia, on behalf of the Italian Space Agency, and Arianespace sign contract to launch PRISMA Italian satellite

OHB Italia Spa and Arianespace announced today the signature of the launch contract for the Italian Space Agency's PRISMA (PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa) satellite.

The launch will be carried out by a Vega rocket in 2018 from the Guiana Space Center, within the scope of a contract signed by OHB Italia Spa on behalf of the Italian Space Agency ASI.

PRISMA is an Earth observation satellite fitted with an innovative electro-optical instrument, combining a hyperspectral sensor with a medium-resolution panchromatic camera. This type of combined instrument offers the advantages of conventional observation, based on the recognition of the geometric characteristics of a scene, coupled with the ability to determine the chemical and physical characteristics of the objects present in the scene, using the hyperspectral sensors.

The scientific community and other users will be able to employ these capabilities for a number of applications, including environmental monitoring, resources management, identification and classification of crops, the fight against pollution, etc. Other applications are also possible, including homeland security.

Built by OHB Italia on a dedicated platform hosting the Payload supplied by Leonardo Airborne and Space Systems, the PRISMA satellite will be placed into a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 615 kilometers. It will weigh approximately 900 kilograms at launch.

The Vega launch vehicle, in which Italy is playing a leading role, has been sel ected for PRISMA mission by the Italian Space Agency ASI.

Following the contract signature, Arianespace Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Israël said: "We are extremely proud to continue our ongoing support for the European space industry through this Earth observation mission that will provide major applications to protect both our planet and national security. We are very honored by this expression of trust fr om OHB Italia, on behalf of the Italian ASI space agency. This contract also confirms the success of our Vega lightweight launcher, which continues to set the standard in its class, launch after launch."

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Stéphane Israël‏ @arianespaceceo 4 ч. назад

Proud to have signed today the first contract for #VegaC with P.Pham and in presence of F.Lombard & J.Dauphin @AirbusSpace #missiontosuccess