Arianespace offers new smallsat rideshare on its Vega launcher; with next mission fully booked

Arianespace today announced that new shared payload opportunities to low Earth orbit (LEO) have

been opened with its Vega launcher’s Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS).

For the next launch opportunity – Vega Flight VV18, targeted for the first quarter of 2021 – five

companies already have signed contracts for payload slots, thereby fully booking the capacity on

this mission.

The initial SSMS launch with Vega – Flight VV16 – was performed last month, fully proving the viability of

Arianespace’s latest capability for orbiting small satellites. This inaugural SSMS launch was supported by the

European Space Agency and the European Union, deploying 50-plus satellites for 21 commercial and

institutional customers.

With the SSMS’ successful introduction, Arianespace is now able to offer a regular launch service for small

satellites (mass under 400 kg). Customers will benefit from the highly modular payload carrying systems

available on the current Vega and the enhanced Vega C version, along with the reignition capability of the

launchers’ AVUM upper stage, as well as the new small spacecraft preparation and integration facilities in

Europe that complement existing installations at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.

Vega C maiden flight is schedule for mid-2021.

Upcoming launch opportunities for small satellites will be published regularly on the Arianespace.com website.

Opportunities in 2021 include:

Longer-term opportunities include an SSMS mission to dawn-dusk low Earth orbit, and one to low Earth

equatorial orbit.

For Vega’s next SSMS launch, Flight VV18 will be a piggyback mission with a dispenser configuration based

on one hexagonal module below the main payload interface. Its fully-booked capacity underscores how

attractive this opportunity was to users and customers, including Spire and Nanoavionics through SAB Launch

Services; Eutelsat and Myriota, through Tyvak; and the Norwegian Space Center with its Norsat-3 satellite,

through SpaceFlight Laboratories.

With the goal of further benefiting the small satellite community, Arianespace today released the new SSMS

User’s Manual for Vega C. On Vega C, the SSMS will offer even greater performance capabilities and is to

broaden the array of solutions that Arianespace provides to small satellite operators.

Small, versatile, and efficient, the light-lift Vega is part of Arianespace’s launcher family, operating from the

Guiana Space Center alongside the heavyweight Ariane 5 and the medium-lift Soyuz. Vega is a European

Space Agency program; Italy’s Avio, based in Colleferro, is Vega’s industrial prime contractor, as well as the

design lead for the SSMS.