Vega, Vega-C,...

[Salo]

http://www.avio.com/en/press-release/successfully-tested-the-m10-methane-engine-prototype/

13 Nov 2018                   
Successfully tested the M10-methane engine prototype
                      

Colleferro 13 November 2018 – Today in Colleferro Avio successfully tested the prototype of the new M10 liquid oxygen-methane engine, developed by Avio in partnership with the European Space Agency within the Vega E (Vega Evolution) program. The prototype is a scaled model of the third stage propulsion engine which will equip the Vega launcher starting from 2024.
The technology adopted represents a true innovation for both propulsion efficiency and environmental sustainability, given its reduced emissions and combustion waste. The prototype has been structured through additive manufacturing following Avio's SMSP (Single Material Single Part) patent, exploiting advanced 3D-laser printing technologies.
Giulio Ranzo, CEO of Avio, commented: "Avio is very satisfied with the M10 test result, the first European prototype of a LOx-Methane engine, a truly cutting-edge technology with extremely low environmental impact, available to very few players worldwide.  In the medium term, this engine will allow to replace the last two propulsion stages (Z9 and Avum) with a new cryogenic propulsion stage far more efficient and flexible. Our objective is to keep on increasing Vega's cost competitiveness and maneuverability to orbit small satellites in low earth orbit, while the possibility to launch bigger satellites in geostationary and medium orbits will be ensured by Ariane 6".

[Сергей]

Salo пишет:
Successfully tested the M10-methane engine prototype

Раньше писали о планах замены 3-ей и 4-ой ступени одной водородной ступенью, теперь планируют метан. Может немного и потеряют в ПН?

[Salo]

Проекту LYRA/MIRA уже не менее 10 лет:
http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/forum/messages/forum13/topic11143/message1815266/#message1815266

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Hot fire test of prototype engine thrust chamber for future Vega Evolution
Доступ по ссылке

European Space Agency, ESA

Дата загрузки: 14 нояб. 2018 г.

The first element of Europe's future evolution of the Vega launch vehicle for use beyond 2025 was successfully tested at Avio in Colleferro, Italy on 13 November 2018. This hot firing proves a 3D-printed small-scale prototype thrust chamber of the M10 upper stage engine fuelled by liquid oxygen–methane. © Avio

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[tnt22]

Vega: 13 launches 13 successes

European Space Agency, ESA

Опубликовано: 22 нояб. 2018 г.

Europe's Vega launch vehicle operating from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, has a flawless record.

Vega serves a wide range of missions and payload configurations, responding to different market opportunities. It is the ideal launcher for most scientific and Earth observation missions, benchmarked to loft 1500 kg into a 700 km-altitude circular orbit at 90° inclination.

Based on this success a more powerful #Vega, Vega-C, now in development is set to launch in mid-2019 offering greater performance at no additional cost.

Vega-C shares technology with Europe's other new launcher Ariane 6. The P120C solid fuel motor will be used as the first stage for Vega-C and two or four will be used as strap-on boosters for Ariane 6.

(2:25)

[tnt22]

Vega Space Transportation System‏ @vega_sts 7 ч.7 часов назад

The @esa #Vega development programme manager, @TuminoGiorgio presented the status of all related @vega_sts development projects at the @iafastro 2018 congress.

The paper and presentation can now be downloaded here:
https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/STS/D213-Tumino-Paper.pdf ... and
https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/STS/D213-Tumino-Presentation.pdf ...

THE VEGA SPACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT: STATUS AND PERSPECTIVES - 978.7 KB, 9 стр, 2018-11-22 08:06:20 UTC

D213-Tumino-Presentation.pdf - 1.8 MB, 13 стр, 2018-11-22 08:06:00 UTC

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AVUM+ shaker testing
Доступ по ссылке

European Space Agency, ESA

Дата загрузки: 22 нояб. 2018 г.

ESA's upper stage propulsion module for use on Europe's future Vega-C in 2019, underwent vibration testing on the QUAD shaker at the ESTEC Test Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, during November 2018.

This Attitude Vernier Upper Module, AVUM+, provides several improvements on Vega's AVUM including: composite skin sandwich structure, increased propellant load and main engine re-ignition capabilities, giving more flexibility for multi-payload missions.

ESA's Test Centre simulates every aspect of space including recreating the equivalent vibration of a rocket launch.

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или здесь - http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2018/11/AVUM_shaker_testing

[tnt22]

http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/space-si-selects-arianespace-to-launch-the-nemo-hd-microsat-on-vega/

Vega | December 3, 2018
SPACE-SI selects Arianespace to launch the NEMO-HD microsat on VEGA

Arianespace has been chosen by the Slovenian Centre of Excellence for Space Sciences and Technologies (SPACE-SI) to launch the NEMO-HD microsat on the Vega launch vehicle as part of the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof of Concept (POC) flight in 2019.

NEMO-HD, the microsatellite for Earth monitoring and observation in high-definition, will be capable of performing real-time imaging and video streaming over Slovenia and other regions. In addition, the spacecraft is designed for remote observation. The satellite will be operated by the Slovenian Centre of Excellence for Space Sciences and Technologies, and was developed in collaboration with the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies – Space Flight Laboratory (UTIAS – SFL).

As the result of NEMO-HD's booking on the SSMS POC flight, the Vega launch vehicle's payload capacity for the mission has been filled – except for last-minute customers willing to book a port for cubesat deployers.

Vega's POC flight will be the first mission for SSMS – a program initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2016 with the contribution of the European Commission. For all European partners involved, its purpose is to perfectly address the burgeoning microsatellite market for both institutional and commercial needs with a new rideshare concept on the Vega light launcher.

Спойлер

Vega is part of the Arianespace launcher family, along with the Ariane 5 heavy launcher and the medium-lift Soyuz; all three are operated from the Guiana Space Center. The industrial prime contractor for Vega is Avio, based in Colleferro, Italy.

"With NEMO-HD in the orbit, we will achieve a very compact and cost effective end-to-end solution for interactive remote sensing combining the agile microsatellite with the mobile ground station system STREAM 54 and the advance data processing chain STORM", said prof. Tomaž Rodič, CEO of SPACE- SI. "Vega SSMS concept is ideally suited to support our mission".

"We are excited to welcome SPACE-SI to the Arianespace family with this contract to launch NEMO-HD aboard Vega," said Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace. "Vega – with its remarkable record – has become a perfectly tailored solution for access to space for small payloads."

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2e essai du moteur Ariane 6 - P120C

CNES CSG

Опубликовано: 1 февр. 2019 г.

Deuxième essai grandeur nature du P120C au Centre spatial guyanais. Le moteur équipera les lanceurs européens Ariane 6 et Vega C.

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2e essai du P120C (Ariane 6) - Caméra technique

CNES

Опубликовано: 29 янв. 2019 г.

(4:21)

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DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 11 мар.

Nice to hear that the Vega-C has passed it's CDR, the gantry crane at the ZLV (ex ELA-1) has been upgraded already, image via ESA - S. Corvaja #Vega #VegaC #CSG #ESA

[Salo]

https://spacenews.com/vega-rocket-builder-avio-sees-revenue-jump-new-rockets-progressing/

Vega rocket-builder Avio sees revenue jump, new rockets progressing
by Caleb Henry — March 15, 2019  

Avio said accelerated progress developing Vega C and the P120C solid rocket booster led to unexpectedly high revenue. Photo shows Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo standing by Avio-built rocket stages. Credit: Eric Vandeville for Avio  

WASHINGTON — Avio, the company that builds Europe's light-lift Vega rocket and the future Vega C, reported a double-digit jump in revenue for its first full year as a publicly traded company.
Based in Colleferro, Italy, near Rome, Avio said March 14 that revenue for 2018 increased 13 percent to 388.7 million euros ($440.6 million), and net profit by 18 percent to 25.8 million euros.
Avio said faster than expected progress on next-generation projects it is working on with the European Space Agency caused the company to pass its upper revenue projection of 365 million euros.
The Vega C rocket, Europe's successor to the current Vega rocket, and the P120C booster that will serve as both the strap-on for Ariane 6 and the first stage of Vega C, advanced at a rate that triggered higher 2018 revenues than initially forecast, Avio said.
Vega C, which is designed to carry about 700 kilograms more than the current Vega rocket, slipped fr om a maiden flight this year to early 2020 — a schedule shift Avio attributed to its 2019 manifest and not delays with the rocket.
Avio has four Vega launches this year: the Italian Space Agency's PRISMA remote sensing satellite, the proof of concept flight of the ESA-supported SSMS adaptor for cubesats and larger microsats, and launches of the United Arab Emirates' Falcon Eye 1 and 2 satellites. Barring delays, it will be the highest number of Vega launches in a single year since the rocket's debut in 2012.
"What is behind our business is a very rapidly growing segment of the market," Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo said in an interview. "All of these low Earth orbit small satellites, one way or another they are growing very fast."
Avio competes mainly with the Indian space agency ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, but also counts Northrop Grumman's Minotaur rockets and Firefly Aerospace's future Alpha vehicle as competitors.
Arianespace of Evry, France, markets Avio's rockets, and indicated early this year that may soon need to purchase more. Ranzo said it's not clear how many rockets Arianespace would buy — the last contract was for a mix of 10 Vega and Vega Cs — but that an order could come through this year or in early 2020.
Avio's backlog for 2018 was 877 million euros, down 8 percent. The company described its backlog as "cyclical," forecasting a decrease to 750 million to 800 million euros for 2019. In February 2018 Avio also recorded its final order of Ariane 5 strap-on solid rocket boosters for the rocket's last 10 missions.
Ranzo said physical upgrades to the Vega launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, have been completed to support Vega C, which is about 5 meters taller and roughly 70 tons heavier than Vega.
Ranzo said Avio is continuing to study building a "microlauncher" that would compete with smaller vehicles like Rocket Lab's Electron and Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne.
Avio's vehicle, referred to in a March 15 presentation as "Vega Light" would be capable of launching 250 to 300 kilograms to low Earth orbits around 400 to 500 kilometers, Ranzo said.
"We are working through the preliminary design review in the development," he said. "Our requirement is having as much commonality as possible with Vega C."
Ranzo said Vega Light would be an entirely solid-propulsion rocket, eliminating the need to fuel rocket stages on the launch pad immediately before flight. A full launch campaign could take less than five days, he said, because all solid-propellant rockets could be built and stored away until needed.
ESA is conducting studies with Avio and other companies on European microlaunchers, leading up to the agency's ministerial conference this November wh ere it plans to propose a program that would support "privately-led privately-funded space transportation services, with an initial focus on launch services based on microlaunchers."

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http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/arianespace-to-launch-the-esail-satellite-for-exactearth-on-vegas-ssms-poc-flight/

Vega | May 9, 2019
Arianespace to launch the ESAIL satellite for exactEarth on Vega's SSMS POC flight

Arianespace announced today that it has been sel ected by exactEarth to launch the ESAIL satellite using a Vega as part of the launcher's Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof of Concept (POC) flight.

It is the final contract signed by Arianespace for this POC flight, which is now completely booked with 42 payloads onboard.

The ESAIL satellite will be launched in a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of 515 km. on a Vega SSMS rideshare flight in 2019 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

exactEarth is a leading provider of global AIS (Automatic Identification System) maritime vessel data for ship tracking and maritime situational awareness solutions. Using world-leading satellite vessel detection technology – combined with the most advanced constellation of AIS satellites – exactEarth delivers the highest quality real-time information to customers around the world.

The ESAIL microsatellite has a mass of 110 kg. and features an enhanced multiple antenna-receiver configuration for global detection of AIS messages and high-resolution spectrum capture, which will enable the demonstration of advanced future services such as VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) message reception.

After launch and commissioning, the ESAIL satellite will be integrated into exactEarth's global constellation – which currently consists of more than 60 high-performance maritime monitoring payloads.

The ESAIL satellite was supported by European Space Agency (ESA – ESTEC) through the ARTES 21 SAT-AIS (SATellite Automatic Identification System) program, and was developed and built by a European manufacturing team led by the satellite prime contractor Luxspace.

Спойлер

Vega's POC flight will be the first mission for SSMS – a program initiated by ESA in 2016 with the contribution of the European Commission. For all European partners involved, its purpose is to perfectly address the burgeoning microsatellite market for both institutional and commercial needs with a new rideshare concept on the Vega light-lift launcher.

Vega is part of the Arianespace launcher family, along with the Ariane 5 heavy launcher and the medium-lift Soyuz; all three are operated fr om the Guiana Space Center. The industrial prime contractor for Vega is Avio, based in Colleferro, Italy.

"exactEarth is happy to collaborate with Arianespace and participate in the Vega SSMS mission to deploy the ESAIL satellite," said Peter Mabson, the exactEarth CEO. "We would also like to thank ESA and the supporting national delegates and the Luxspace team for helping to create this advanced technology microsatellite and we look forward to adding it to our global fleet."

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Following the signature of this contract, Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace, said: "We are thrilled to welcome exactEarth among our customers and as the last passenger coming aboard the Vega SSMS POC flight, which is now completely booked. Everything is now set for this summer's targeted launch of the first Arianespace mission dedicated to rideshare! Arianespace will keep on offering competitive solutions to all satellites regardless of their masses and volumes, to the benefit of a better life on Earth."

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http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/arianespace-to-orbit-spanish-seosat-ingenio-earth-observation-satellite/

Corporate | May 20, 2019
Arianespace to orbit Spanish SEOSat/Ingenio Earth observation satellite

Arianespace and the European Space Agency (ESA/Earth Observation Programs directorate) today announced the signature of a launch services contract with a Vega launcher for SEOSat (Spanish Earth Observation SATellite) for Spain's Center for Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI - Centro para el Desarrollo Technologico Industrial).

SEOSat/Ingenio is a high-resolution optical imaging mission of Spain – the flagship mission of the Spanish Space Strategic Plan.

It will be launched along with the French CNES space agency's TARANIS satellite aboard a Vega launch vehicle in the first semester of 2020 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana (South America).

The satellite will have a mass at liftoff of approximately 840 kg.and will be placed in Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 670 km.

The SEOSat/Ingenio mission is devoted to providing high resolution multispectral land optical images to different Spanish civil, institutional and government users, and potentially to other European users in the framework of the European Copernicus program and GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems).

The overall mission objective is to provide information for applications in cartography, land use, urban management, water management, environmental monitoring, risk management and security.

CDTI is funding the mission and has responsibility for programmatic aspects of the program. The project development managed by ESA as support to a national mission in the context of the European Earth Observation Architecture. A launch services procurement assistance agreement to this effect was signed between ESA and CDTI in Madrid on May 17, 2019. Within the agreement, CDTI has entrusted ESA with the technical and contractual management of the industrial activities, thus being in charge of the procurement of the SEOSat/Ingenio system's space and ground segments.

The SEOSat/Ingenio spacecraft is the first built by an industrial consortium of the Spanish space sector companies led by Airbus Defense and Space/Spain.

Following the contract signature, Josef Aschbacher, Director of Earth Observation Programmes at ESA said: "I am very happy to sign the agreement with CDTI today and the contract with Arianespace. This marks a strong cooperation with Spain in the field of Earth Observation with the ESA support to the development of the SEOSat national mission. We look forward to launch early next year and to complement with SEOSat/Ingenio the European Earth Observation Architecture and to add another mission to the Third Party Missions portfolio of ESA."

Stéphane Israël, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace, added: "We are delighted Arianespace has been chosen by ESA to launch SEOSat/Ingenio, reinforcing our relationship with Spain – a country that also is very involved in European launcher programs. Orbiting this satellite for the benefit of Spanish and European citizens – on a Vega launcher together with another institutional mission for France – reasserts Arianespace primary mission: ensuring European independent access to space."

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 19 мин. назад

ARTICLE:
ESA promotes Vega's evolution for independent European access to space -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/06/esa-vega-c-european-access-space/ ...

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A new generation of European Launch Vehicles

European Space Agency, ESA

Опубликовано: 6 июн. 2019 г.

We strive for the future of Europe in space and key to this endeavour is maintaining access to space.

Спойлер

This objective is accomplished by supporting the development of new launch vehicles and next year will be an important year: Vega-C and Ariane 6 will fly for the first time.

Vega-C is an enhanced version of Europe's current Vega, with increased power and capacity.

Ariane 6 is Europe's next heavy-lift launcher which will replace Ariane 5. With Ariane 6 the approach is evolving for the assembly and production processes, and also in the sharing of responsibilities between us and Industry.

In parallel to preparing a new generation of launchers, we are also working on its first reusable spacecraft, Space Rider, that will fly on top of a Vega-C and which should be confirmed at Space19+, the Ministerial Conference in Seville in November 2019.

Already, the future of European Space transportation is clearly visible in Kourou where Vega-C and Ariane 6 are step-by-step becoming a reality.

[свернуть]

(4:21)

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Vega Space Transportation System @vega_sts 24 мин. назад

Future European space laboratory @esa_SpaceRider will be one of many missions to launch on #VegaC from Europe's Spaceport. With its multiple adaptors, Vega-C can launch either large, single payloads or small, multiple payloads... anything from 1 kg to 2300 kg!

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Avio @Avio_Group 16 ч. назад

#VegaC: Avio has introduced new TVCs (electronic thrust vector control actuators) with the P120C and Z40 engines. Based on Control Unit redundancy and use of thermal batteries, TVCs will give many benefits in terms of efficiency and reliability, amongst others. #ADV #Technology

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 ESA‏ @esa 18 мин. назад

ESA, @Arianespace and respective prime contractors @ArianeGroup and @Avio_Group signed protocols on the Launchers Exploitation Phase for #Ariane6 and #VegaC this week, an important step in consolidating industrial responsibilities for launch operations http://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Signed_protocols_on_exploitation_of_Ariane_6_and_Vega-C ...

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 Vega Space Transportation System‏ @vega_sts 2 ч. назад

At #ESTEC, the fairing of maiden #VegaC flight is going through acoustic testing before its first launch in 2020. This is at @esa's Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF), simulating the noise and vibrations Vega-C will endure at take-off. More: http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2019/11/Vega-C_fairing_s_trial_by_sound#.Xd5SaSTbW5E.link ...