# Arianespace Vega
*launch services*

## Specifications
- **payload to leo kg**: 1963
- **payload to sso kg**: 1500
- **entity type**: launch_service
- **last verified date**: 2026-09-29
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: unclaimed
- **provider**: arianespace

## Editorial
Vega is a retired European small-lift orbital launch vehicle that flew 22 missions (20 successful) between 2012 and 2024 from the SLV-ZEM pad at Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana.[^esa-vega][^wiki-vega] The four-stage vehicle used three solid motors (P80, Zefiro-23, Zefiro-9) and a restartable liquid upper stage (AVUM, RD-843 engine, UDMH/NTO, up to 5 ignitions), with a 2.6 m diameter fairing.[^esa-vega-stages][^eoportal-vega] Total liftoff mass was 137 tonnes and vehicle height 30 m.[^esa-vega]

Reference payload capacity was 1,500 kg to a 700 km orbit at 90 deg inclination, the figure ESA gives for its SSO-labelled reference orbit.[^esa-vega] The Arianespace Vega User's Manual (Issue 4, 2014, sec 2.4.2) gives 1,430 kg for the same 700 km, 90 deg inclination reference polar mission.[^arianespace-vega-manual-2014] LEO capacity reached approximately 1,963 kg on an elliptic 1,500 x 200 km orbit.[^arianespace-vega-manual-2014] The final flight (VV23, 2024-09-05) carried Sentinel-2C.[^wiki-vega] Notable EO payloads include Sentinel-2A (2015), Sentinel-2B (2017), Sentinel-3B (2018), PROBA-V (2013), and PRISMA (2019).[^esa-vega][^eoportal-vega]

## Supply chain position
- Arianespace Vega --[successor]--> arianespace-vega-c (launch_services)
- prisma (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- sentinel-2a (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- aeolus (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- sentinel-2b (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- ghgsat (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- pleiades-neo-3 (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- theos-2 (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- triton (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- venus-isa-cnes (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- perusat-1 (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- vnredsat-1 (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- kazeosat-1 (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- gokturk-1 (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- anser (missions) --[mission_launch_vehicle]--> Arianespace Vega
- theos-2 (missions) --[related]--> Arianespace Vega

## Sources
- [esa-vega] | Vega - ESA Space Transportation | https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Launch_vehicles/Vega | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [wiki-vega] | Vega (rocket) - Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega_(rocket) | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-16
- [eoportal-vega] | Vega (European Advanced Generation Carrier) - eoPortal | https://www.eoportal.org/other-space-activities/vega | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-16
- [esa-vega-stages] | The Vega stages - ESA | https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Vega/The_Vega_stages | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [arianespace-vega-manual-2014] | Vega User's Manual, Issue 4 (Arianespace, April 2014) | https://newspaceeconomy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/vega-users-manual_issue-04_april-2014.pdf | tier=operator-engineering | accessed=2026-09-29

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/launch_services/arianespace-vega
Publisher: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)