- News

ESA’s new Vega rocket has now been launched. It lifted off from the new Vega launch site at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying nine satellites into orbit.

Unlike most small launchers, Vega is able to place multiple payloads into orbit. In particular, it offers configurations able to handle payloads ranging from a single satellite up to one main satellite plus six microsatellites.

(Image credit: ESA)

What’s on board?

The primary payload of Vega’s qualification flight is the spherical LARES laser relativity satellite
and ALMASat-1 (ALmaMAter Satellite) along with seven ESA CubeSats.

LARES from Italy’s space agency ASI will study the Lense–Thirring effect – the part of Albert
Einstein’s theory of general relativity that describes the distortion of space-time caused by the
rotation of a body with mass.

ALMASat-1 is an ASI educational microsatellite built by the University of Bologne, Italy. This
technology demonstration satellite is a 30-cm cube designed as a modular structure that could be
used for various technology demonstration or Earth observation missions.

Seven nanosatellites sharing the same ‘CubeSat’ design (1 kg, 1 W, 10 cm cubic structure) and
developed by European universities will also fly on Vega’s first flight. They will be released by three P-PODs (Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Deployers) mounted on the support structure.

As this is the maiden voyage for Vega, the payloads are all getting a free ride. This is because of the high risk of failure for the first launch of a new rocket.

Rocket Man

The development of launchers is not restricted to agencies such as the ESA or NASA. Private companies such as SpaceX, in the U.S., have also developed new rockets. SpaceX is the company headed up by the Paypal billionaire, Elon Musk. Musk’s Falcon 9 rocket is due to carry supplies to the International Space Station. The Dragon space capsule, carried on board, will be adapted to be able to take seven astronauts to the ISS at any one time. The Dragon capsule will include a launch abort system, which take astronauts to safety should there be a problem during launch. The abort system is a very important part of NASAs manned spaceflight programme. This clip looks at the launch abort system for NASA’s Orion capsule, the new generation capsule for missions to the Moon.

Relevant teacher resources in the National STEM Centre eLibrary include:

Primary activity -

• Drinking Straw Rocket

Rocket videos -

• Alka-Seltzer rocket
• Rocket Images and Video
• Saturn V video

Secondary school resources -

• Rockets and Projectiles
• Rocket Science Activities
• Lift Off!

If all goes to plan, the highlights of the Vega launch will be available to watch on ESA TV from 10th February.