Vega rocket launch fails and Earth observation satellite is lost

Arianespace has faced an unsuccessful launch of a Vega rocket for the first time. Two minutes after launch, there was a ‘major irregularity’. Both the rocket and the Earth observation satellite were lost.

French launch company Arianespace reports that Flight VV15’s mission has failed. About two minutes after the nighttime launch of the Vega rocket from the launch site in French Guiana, something went wrong shortly after igniting the Zefiro 23 engine of the second rocket stage. This led to an early end to the mission: the missile crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and was lost. The United Arab Emirates’ Falcon-Eye1 Earth observation satellite also did not survive the launch.

Luce Fabreguettes, a vice president at Arianespace, made a statement during the livestream nine minutes after launch. She immediately apologized to the owners of the satellite. At this time, the cause of the launch failure is still unknown, but according to Fabreguettes, an initial flight data analysis will soon provide more information. Arianespace says to make this information public as soon as possible. An independent commission of inquiry will also be set up.

The livestream showed that the rocket reached a maximum speed of 2.17 km per second, after which the speed gradually decreased from 2 minutes and 15 seconds after takeoff from the launch pad. The rocket also began to deviate from its planned ascent trajectory and barely managed to gain altitude. The Zefiro 23 solid fuel engine should have burned for about 77 seconds, after which a third and fourth stage should have taken over, but it never got to that point.

The Vega rocket is a relatively small, light, 30-meter-high rocket that was first launched in February 2012. The rocket is made by the Italian company Avio. The current failed mission VV15 was the fifteenth launch with this rocket. The Falcon-Eye1 is a satellite built by Airbus Defense and Space, with the optical elements made by Thales Alenia Space. In its highest resolution mode, this satellite for the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces is said to have a resolution of 70cm in a 20km stretch.