Kourou – Another success for the European launcher Vega, as it carried out, on 30 April, a launch from the European Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. This is the third mission of the launcher, designed, developed and manufactured in Italy by Avio – through its subsidiary ELV (owned at 30% by the Italian Space Agency) – as part of the European space program. Vega is a latest generation launcher designed to transfer in low orbit (about 700 km above the earth) satellites for earth observation and environmental monitoring. Made mostly in Avio Colleferro – near Rome – in its current configuration, Vega is capable of putting into orbit satellites with a mass up to 1500 kg. So far, Vega has put into orbit, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The DZZ -HR satellite, 900 kg, was placed with extreme precision by VEGA in a sun-synchronous orbit at 750 km altitude and will provide panchromatic images and other high resolution multi-spectral measurements for a wide range of applications, including cadastral surveys, control of natural resources , environmental monitoring and national security. (9Colonne)
