Kourou (French Guiana) 5 April 2026 - The launch of the Smile satellite has been postponed, due to a technical issue occurred on a subsystem component production line after VV29 launcher integration.
Additional investigations are needed to exclude any relation between such issue and the VV29 launcher in order to safeguard flightworthiness.
Colleferro (Rome) March 20th 2026 - On April 9th at 03.29 AM local time (06.29 UTC; 08.29 AM CEST), Avio will launch the European Space Agency’s (ESA) and Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (Smile) scientific satellite. The mission, designated “VV29”, will be carried out by a Vega-C launcher, the first operated by Avio, lifting off from the European Spaceport in French Guiana.
Colleferro (Rome) 17 December 2025 - Ariane 6 has successfully delivered into orbit a pair of satellites of the European Galileo navigation and positioning program. With this launch, a total of 34 satellites have been placed in orbit to date.
Colleferro (Rome), 1 December 2025 – Vega C has successfully completed the VV28 flight, putting in orbit the KOMPSAT-7 (KOrea Multi-Purpose SATellite-7) for the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). Vega C lifted off from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana at 02.21 PM Kourou time (06.21 PM Rome time). The rocket performed flawlessly. After two burns, the AVUM+ upper stage released the payload 44 minutes after liftoff in a Sun-Synchronous orbit at an altitude of 576 km.
Colleferro (Rome), 05 November 2025 – Ariane 6 has successfully placed the Earth observation satellite Sentinel-1D into orbit. The spacecraft is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and is part of the European Commission’s Copernicus program.
Colleferro (Rome), April 29th 2025 – The Vega-C VV26 flight has successfully launched the Biomass satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA).
Colleferro (Rome), March 6th 2025 – The Ariane 6 launcher has successfully completed the VA263 flight from the Guiana Space Centre, putting in orbit the CSO-3 satellite for the French Armed Forces.
Colleferro (Rome), December 6, 2024 – Vega C successfully launched the Sentinel-1C Earth Observation Satellite, a dedicated mission for the European Commission Copernicus Program. The payload was put into a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of 700 kilometers 1 hour and 43 minutes after lift-off.
Colleferro (Rome), December 4, 2024 – Due to a mechanical issue preventing the withdrawal of the mobile gantry, the launch chronology has been stopped.
The earliest targeted launch date is planned for tomorrow Thursday 5 December 2024, at 10:20 PM CET (6:20 PM local time in Kourou).
The launcher and its passenger the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite are in stable and safe conditions.
Colleferro (Rome), September 5th 2024 – Vega successfully launched the Sentinel-2C Earth Observation Satellite, a dedicated mission for the European Commission Copernicus Program. The payload was put into a Sun-Synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 775 kilometers.
