Today, February 13, Arianespace (News - Alert) successfully launched its new Vega rocket, putting two larger scientific satellites and seven cubesatellites into orbit. Launched from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, Arianespace now boasts a portfolio of light, medium, and heavy launcher vehicles.

Vega's first flight put Italy's LARES laser relatively satellite, University of Bologna's ALMASat-1 microsatellite technology demonstrator, and seven CubeSats into orbit. The flight was conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA) to qualify the overall Vega system. LARES is a tungsten sphere embedded with laser retroreflectors. Scientists will use an international network of ranging lasers to detect gravitational waves and more accurately measure the distortions of space-time by using LARES as a target.

ALMASat-1 is a pathfinder satellite for low-cost microsatellite missions to be flown by Italy research institutions in the future. Designed for an in-orbit life of one year, the satellite weighs in at 12.5 kilograms and is roughly the shape of a cube about 30 centimeters per side. Modular construction using a set of six aluminum trays allows for easy customization using commercial off the shelf (COTS) devices and instruments. Systems to be verified include a magnetic altitude determination and control system, off-the-shelf lithium ion batteries, and a nitrogen cold gas micropropulsion system using 12 MEMS-based microthrusters. A future ALMASat mission will be configured as an Earth Observation satellite.

Developed by ESA, Italy's ASI space agency, and the French CNES space agency, Vega is a four stage launcher designed to put up to 1,500 kilograms into a 700 kilometer circular orbit. Built in Europe, the first stage uses a filament-wound casing around a solid propellant motor. The second and third stages also use solid propellants while the fourth stage is a bi-propellant liquid-fueled rocket using UDMH and nitrogen tetroxide.

The light-to-medium weight Vega joins the medium-lift Soyuz and heavy Ariane 5 rocket in Arianespace's portfolio, giving the launch services provider the ability to put a range of payloads into orbit ranging from small satellites to the massive European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) designed to resupply the International Space Station (ISS).

Future missions for Vega will be for a mixture of commercial and university customers. Arianespace has already received a contract from ESA to launch the European Union's Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 earth observation satellites. A pair of Sentinel-2 satellites will provide wide swath multispectral imagery using visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared sensors with a swath width of 290 kilometers. Sentinel-3 is a single satellite designed to measure sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface temperature and ocean- and land-surface color with high-end accuracy and reliability in support of ocean forecasting systems, and for environmental and climate monitoring.