the firing of the rocket from the French Guiana was first postponed because of the crisis of the sars coronavirus, and then twice because of the weather.
The shooting of the european rocket Vega, carried over a first time because of the crisis of the coronavirus and then twice because of the weather, is now scheduled for this Saturday from Kourou in French Guyana, has announced that Arianespace in a statement. “The weather conditions over the Guiana Space Center can resume operations timing of the launch VV16 (Vol Vega n°16)”, announced the company in charge of the marketing of the small launcher.
The shooting of the european rocket Vega is planned Saturday at 22h51 time in Kourou (05h51 Sunday morning (Paris time), subject to “the confirmation of favourable weather conditions”, says Arianespace. This flight will mark the return of the Vega rocket since its failure in the summer of 2019, which had led to his destruction, by way of precaution.
ALSO READ >>Failure of the launch of a Vega rocket from the Guiana
Your support is essential. Subscribe for $ 1 support Us
The take-off had originally been scheduled for march 18 but was postponed because of the crisis of the sars coronavirus. And last week, the launch had again had to be cancelled twice due to adverse weather conditions. The mission “VV16” for Arianespace is new to the Europeans because they will make their first launch shared (“rideshare”), by placing in low orbit 53 satellites for the account of, 21 clients, from 13 different countries.
Competition with SpaceX
Europe in space will thus enter this market in full expansion, where the competition – including the american SpaceX – rages. This “cluster” is made up of seven small satellites (weighing between 15 and 150 pounds), as well as 46 nano-satellites, ranging from 300 grams to 11 kilograms. Their applications range from communications to Earth observation, through scientific research.
READ ALSO >>Why the potential collision of two satellites this night is worrying
“With this flight, together, we will standardize access to space for small payloads that will be able to ‘take the subway instead of taking an individual taxi'”, explained Daniel Neuenschwander, director of space transportation european space Agency european (ESA). “For the first time Europe will be able to consolidate a mission with several dozens of satellites on board, which has already been done by other launchers in the world,” including the american SpaceX, had detailed his side of Stephane Israel, chief executive officer of Arianespace.
Read our complete file
The ESA, the european space Agency
Guyana: new postponement of the shooting of the european rocket Vega because of the weather The United States will raise in a conquest of space made in America Failed satellites “low cost” : the Internet everywhere will wait
A similar system will also be proposed by the future launcher heavy Ariane 6, that the inaugural flight had to be pushed back to 2021 because of the pandemic of Covid-19.
