Vega (Italian: Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata, French: Vecteur européen de génération avancée, lit.

[9] The reference Vega mission was a polar orbit bringing a spacecraft of 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) to an altitude of 700 kilometres (430 mi).

After initial success, two in-flight failures and rising competition SpaceX's rideshare programs, which offered lower prices, relegated Vega to primarily serving European government agencies willing to pay more to support independent space access.

[15][16] However, it was recognised to be a costly project and thus difficult for Italy alone to finance; accordingly, international partners were sought early on in order to proceed with development.

[22] In November 1999, European Space Agency (ESA) formally dropped Vega as an endorsed programme, a decision which was largely attributed to France's withdrawal; Italy declared that it would proceed regardless, and threatened to re-direct its allocated contributions for the further development of the Ariane 5 to meet the shortfall.

[23][24] Around 2000, an alternative use for the Vega was explored as a medium-class booster rocket to be used in conjunction with an improved, up-rated model of the Ariane 5 heavy launcher.

[26] In March 2001, FiatAvio and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) formed a new company, European Launch Vehicle (ELV), to assume responsibility for the majority of development work on the Vega programme.

[29] In May 2004, it was reported that a contract was signed between commercial operator Arianespace and prime contractor ELV to perform vehicle integration at Kourou, French Guiana.

[42] At the 2009 Paris Air Show, it was revealed that the adoption of more cost-effective engine to replace the upper stages of the Vega have been postponed due to a failure to reduce the overall costs of the launcher, making it much less worthwhile to pursue.

[45] The first flight was intended to be flown with a scientific payload, rather than a "dummy" placeholder;[46][47] but had intentionally avoided a costly commercial satellite.

[49] During October 2011, all major components of the first Vega rocket departed Avio's Colleferro facility, near Rome, by sea for Kourou.

[56] European Space Agency (ESA) was also keen to take advantage of potential commonalities between the Vega and the proposed Ariane 6 heavy launcher.

[59] In the aftermath of this second launch, European Space Agency (ESA) declared the Vega rocket to be "fully functional".

[61] Since entering commercial service, Arianespace markets Vega as a launch system tailored for missions to polar and Sun-synchronous orbits.

[62] During its qualification flight, Vega placed its main payload of 386.8 kg, the LARES satellite, into a circular orbit at the altitude of 1450 km with an inclination of 69.5°.

[63] Arianespace had indicated that the Vega launcher was able to carry 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) to a circular polar orbit at an altitude of 700 km (430 mi).

The cylindrical part of the fairing has an outer diameter 2.6 m and a height 3.5 m.[68] The first three stages are solid propellant engines produced by Avio, that was the prime contractor for the Vega launcher through its company ELV.

The P80 includes a thrust vector control (TVC) system, developed and made in Belgium by SABCA, consisting of two electromechanical actuators that operate a movable nozzle with flexible joint using lithium-ion batteries.

[79] After a critical design review based on the completed first test firings,[80] the second test-firing of the Zefiro 9 took place at Salto di Quirra on 28 March 2007.

[84] The APM is powered by the Ukrainian-built RD-843 rocket engine, a lightweight, pressure-fed liquid-fuel system that uses unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) oxidizer as propellants.

[7][85] This engine is capable of multiple restarts, enabling high-precision orbital adjustments, multi-payload deployment, and controlled de-orbiting to reduce space debris.

The AAM houses the vehicle’s core avionics subsystem, integrating advanced guidance, navigation, and control systems.

[87] On 14 February 2012, one day after the successful first launch of Vega, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) moved to be included in the program.

The Vega launcher manager stated that it will not fly in the near future because it takes some time to develop, but he confirmed it will be on agenda in the next meeting of ministers in late 2012.

[93] Return missions are also available using the reusable Space Rider vehicle, currently in development by ESA and due to launch on a Vega-C no earlier than July 2025.

[95] On 21 December 2022 (UTC), Vega-C suffered a launch failure due to an anomaly with the Zefiro 40 second stage resulting in the loss of two spacecraft for the Airbus Pléiades Neo Earth-imaging constellation.