After a two-hour delay, Europe's new Vega C rocket successfully launched its first flight on Wednesday from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Launch analysts described the launch pads jumped off like a Jaguar race car.
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European Space Agency Vega C Rocket Launch
One hour and twenty-four minutes after launch, LARES-2 made its scheduled deployment into Earth orbit. An hour later, the six CubeSats followed. The operation was interrupted twice earlier before the officially scheduled launch and during a second attempt one hour later.
Then everything went off without a hitch when the 115-foot-tall medium-lift Vega C rocket cleared the launch pad. The successful launch included Avum+ upper stage four burns, an enhanced version of the one used on the original Vega rocket.
ESA officials stated in the same release that a laser would track the LARES-2's precise path from ground stations once in orbit.
"The purpose of the mission is to measure the so-called frame-dragging effect, a distortion of space-time caused by the rotation of a massive body such as Earth as predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity. Its predecessor, the similar LARES, was the main payload on the 2012 inaugural flight of Vega," an ESA official said in a statement.
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European Space Agency Vega C Features
ESA officials said that Vega C could carry 2.3 tons to a polar orbit around Earth as opposed to 1.5 tons for the first version of Vega. Due to its larger fairing, Vega C features roughly twice the payload carrying volume of its predecessor.
The new rocket is fully equipped for a broad scope of missions such as nanosatellites to bigger optical and radar surveillance spacecraft. Payload adapters will help Vega C deploy numerous satellite passengers, including primary payload configurations. These payloads are accompanied by microsats or CubeSats.
It has brand-new motors in its first and second stages, such as P120C and Zefiro-40, respectively. The rocket also features an upgraded Avum upper stage.
The Vega C lofted seven satellites, including one primary spacecraft and six tiny ride-along CubeSats. The main payload was LARES-2, an Italian Space Agency satellite that weighed 650 pounds (295 kg).
The six CubeSats have different functions. One of the six is assigned to test a new way of detecting biomolecules in space. The other one will study plant growth in microgravity and the third will shed light on different phenomena related to the magnetosphere and events like an aurora. The rest of the CubeSats will study the effects of space radiation on electronics. One of these CubeSats is developed by CERN.
The European Space Agency (ESA) developed Vega C, which the French company Arianespace will operate. Vega C is significantly more powerful than the original Vega, which has been in flight since 2012.
Vega C will join the original Vega in the Arianespace's rocket table along with the Ariane 5 heavy lifter. The Ariane 6 rocket, which the company is currently constructing to replace the Ariane 5, is scheduled to make its first flight in 2023.
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