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Fifty-three satellites in orbit with a single launch; A true European record was achieved by the Italian aircraft carrier Vega, which departed last night from the Kourou base in French Guiana. The exploit is the result of an innovation supported by ESA and the European Commission’s 2020 program, thanks to which Avio, the Colleferro company that produced the rocket, has designed a system capable of putting many small satellites into orbit at the same time.
Microsatellites
In this case, the dispenser housed seven heavy microsatellites from 15 to 150 kilograms and 46 Cubesats, even lighter and smaller, supplied by 21 customers from 13 different countries: from the United States to Canada, from Luxembourg to Switzerland, from Slovenia to Argentina. , from Spain to Holland, from France to Russia. Until now, small satellites traveled as secondary loads of large satellites; Thanks to Sab Aerospace’s carbon fiber dispenser, the entire volume of the rocket tip can be fully utilized in a single launch.
Variable orbit
The 53 satellites were successfully launched in 104 minutes in an orbit between 515 and 530 kilometers high. The new system increases the capacity of Vega – says Giulio Ranzo, CEO of Avio – to respond to increasingly demanding requests in a constantly growing market. The 16th flight of the Italian rocket also symbolically marks the resumption of Italian space activities after the difficult period of Covid-19 that forced the company Arianespace, which manages the launches, to block the activities of the base in Guyana. In fact, Vega was due to leave in March and, in addition to the postponements for the launch of an Ariane 5, weather difficulties added to the restart in June. But at 3.51 a.m. on Thursday, Italian time, Vega got off the ramp with his precious cargo, showing that the difficulties manifested in the previous attempt have been adequately corrected. The restart with technicians and engineers in Guyana had been organized during the summer, respecting the strict security requirements imposed by the pandemic. For the Italian rocket, the flight was a test because it marked an evolution in capacity compared to previous launches, which began in 2012. Since then, the space transport market has developed more and more in the direction of small satellites, now capable of carry out previously reserved operations. only the giants. Proof of this is the multitude of spacecraft of various kinds that Vega carries, whose capabilities range from Earth observation to telecommunications. Not only that, for example the Dido-3 satellite, born from the collaboration between the Italian space agency ASI and the Israeli Isa, carries out biological and pharmacological research.
Orbital taxi
Another important result of the Italian innovation is that of the D-Orbit company that has created the orbital taxi, a satellite capable of placing cubesat transported within it to the desired points in the orbit. Anyone can book their satellite flight on the Internet. Furthermore, for the first time, an artificial intelligence system developed by the University of Pisa was tested in one of them. The launch of Vega symbolically represents Italy’s reboot into space after the lockdown that slowed production, but did not stop creativity and the desire to innovate in this important sector of the Italian economy, notes ASI President Giorgio Saccoccia. . With Vega – adds Riccardo Fraccaro, undersecretary responsible for space activities policies – Italy can develop the sector like never before, involving researchers and industry, SMEs and large companies. Space, he emphasizes, increasingly represents the area to focus on for the country’s growth. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
September 3, 2020 (change September 3, 2020 | 22:12)
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