ARIANE 5 LAUNCHES FIRST EUROPEAN MISSION TO MERCURY

Colleferro, October 20, 2018 – Ariane 5 has successfully completed its seventh mission of 2018, positioning the BepiColombo craft into orbit for its direct flight to Mercury, the smallest and least explored planet in our solar system. The mission is undertaken jointly by the Euopean Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Kourou (French Guiana), August 22, 2018 – Vega, the European launcher designed, developed and constructed in Italy by Avio, has successfully concluded its first mission of 2018, correctly placing in orbit the ESA’s Aeolus satellite.

This represents Vega’s twelfth consecutive success since its first mission of February 2012. The European launcher again demonstrates its major reliability: for the first time in fact, a new launcher has had its first 12 launches without issue or anomaly.

THE NEW LAUNCHER HAS A LIQUID OXYGEN/METHANE ENGINE WITH A LOW IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT. THE SPACE RIDER CAN RETURN TO EARTH AT THE END OF ITS MISSION AND BE REUSED.

Colleferro 30th November 2017 – Today, Avio signed two contracts with ESA, the European Space Agency, in Paris to develop the Vega E launcher and the Space Rider re-entry vehicle, in line with market expectations. The contracts are worth a total of €89.7 million.

The Director General of the ESA (European Space Agency), Jan Wörner, paid a visit to AVIO, together with Roberto Battiston, President of the ASI (Italian Space Agency). The guests were greeted by the CEO of AVIO, Giulio Ranzo.
The ESA delegation also included Gaele Winters, Director of Launchers, and Stefano Bianchi, Head of Launchers Development.