Vega flight VV02


Vega flight VV02 was the second flight of the Vega launcher. It occurred from the Guiana Space Centre on at 02:06:31UTC.

Payload

The flight was a multi-payload mission that deployed 3 satellites into orbit, with a total payload mass of about including the satellites themselves and the satellites adapter and dispenser.

PROBA-V

, with a mass of, was in the upper position and was the first satellite to be separated, approximately 55 minutes and 27 seconds after liftoff. Its target was a quasi-circular sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of and an inclination of 98.73°.

VNREDSat-1

, with a mass of, was in the lower position. Its target orbit was a quasi-circular sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of and an inclination of 98.1°, to be deployed 1 hour, 57 minutes and 24 seconds after liftoff.

ESTCube-1

The Estonian Student Satellite-1, with a 1U volume and a mass of, was the only CubeSat onboard Vega's second flight. It was accommodated in the lower position of the structure, and was deployed by the ISIPOD dispenser 3 minutes and 24 seconds after VNREDSat-1 in approximately the same orbit.
It operated for more than 2 years before contact was completely lost on.

Mission description

Launch date

After being postponed twice, the successful Vega flight took place on at 02:06:31UTC from the ELV launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana.
It was the Arianespace launch of after Ariane 5 VA212, followed by another 3 Ariane 5 and 2 Soyuz flights.

Orbit

The mission was planned to last 2 hours and 48 seconds, placing its respectively primary and secondary payloads into quasi-circular sun-synchronous orbits at altitudes of respectively and.