Europe's Vega C rocket cleared for launch tonight, first since 2022

Arianespace's Vega C is set to make a return to flight this evening, almost two years to the day after a second-stage failure doomed its previous launch.

ESA's Vega-C rocket sits on the launchpad at Europe's spaceport, ready for liftoff, set for this evening (December 4) – credit: ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut

The Vega C is an expendable, small-lift vehicle operated by Arianespace. It managed only one successful launch, in July 2022, before the failure in December last year and a stand-down while engineers resolved the problems that led to the loss. It was a nozzle failure in 2023 that pushed the return to flight until 2024.

The failed launch left the European Space Agency (ESA) in a tight spot. The Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket has long-since been retired, and its follow-up, the Ariane 6, suffered significant development delays. The Ariane 6 eventually made its maiden flight in July 2024, but suffered an anomaly that prevented an engine restart while in orbit.

Thirty-five meters in height, Vega C is capable of launching 3,300 kg to a low Earth orbit, or 2,500 kg to a polar orbit.

With the Russian Soyuz launcher unavailable due to the conflict in Ukraine, ESA has had to grit its teeth and turn to the likes of SpaceX for launches in the absence of the Vega C and Ariane 6.

ESA will always prefer domestic rockets, if possible, but needs must.

There is a lot riding on tonight's Vega C launch because it is carrying the Sentinel-1C satellite for the Copernicus program. The spacecraft is urgently needed after the demise of the Sentinel-1B spacecraft, which was declared a loss in 2022 following a power bus problem at the end of 2021.

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The Sentinel 1 mission is supposed to consist of two polar-orbiting satellites providing radar mapping of Earth. However, until Sentinel-1C makes it to orbit, only Sentinel-1A is operational. A fourth satellite, Sentinel-1D, is due for launch in 2025. That is, assuming all goes well with the Vega C.

Arianespace has understandably been very cautious about the launch. On November 27, the company announced a slip to December 4, citing a need to "conduct further precautionary checks and activities on launcher preparation and finalization."

Following a Launch Readiness Review, the mission has been cleared for 2120 UTC tonight.

SpaceX, which has been happily plugging the gap for ESA, sent another batch of 24 Starlink satellites into orbit earlier today, marking the 24th flight of that particular first stage. The booster's previous missions included Galileo L13 for the European Commission.

The mission was the last launch of Galileo navigation satellites on a Falcon 9. The satellites were originally planned to launch on a Soyuz, then an Ariane 6, and finally made it to orbit on SpaceX's rocket. ®