Approved for development by the European Space Agency (ESA) in December 2014, Vega C was designed to accommodate larger institutional payloads and compete effectively in the commercial launch market.

[2] Initially marketed and operated by Arianespace, the ESA decided in August 2024 to empower Avio to directly commercialize Vega C and seek non-governmental customers.

Named after Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra,[6] the rocket is a single-body launcher (no strap-on boosters) with three solid and one liquid stage.

While Avio of Italy leads the Vega program, contributions come from companies in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine.

The first stage has been replaced by the more powerful P120C, the "C" refers to its common design allowing it to be used as a booster for the Ariane 6 launcher, enabling shared development costs.

While the AVUM+ (Attitude & Vernier Upper Module) fourth stage remains largely unchanged, the "+" reflects its increased propellant capacity.

[8] However, the second launch on 21 December 2022 experienced a failure of the Zefiro 40 second stage, resulting in the loss of two Pléiades Neo Earth-imaging satellites.