{"id":14444,"date":"2017-08-01T22:06:10","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T14:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/timeline-for-vega-launch-with-optsat-3000-and-ven%c2%b5s\/"},"modified":"2017-08-01T22:06:10","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T14:06:10","slug":"timeline-for-vega-launch-with-optsat-3000-and-ven%c2%b5s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/timeline-for-vega-launch-with-optsat-3000-and-ven%c2%b5s\/","title":{"rendered":"Timeline for Vega launch with Optsat 3000 and Ven\u00b5s"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Vega rocket is set to deliver two satellites into similar but distinct orbits for the Italian military and the French and Israeli space agencies.<\/p>\n

Here are the key events scheduled during the European Vega rocket\u2019s launch from French Guiana with the Italian military\u2019s Optsat 3000 high-resolution reconnaissance satellite and the French-Israeli Ven\u00b5s environmental satellite.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Credit: Arianespace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:00:00 \u2013 Liftoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The Vega rocket\u2019s first stage P80 solid rocket motor ignites and powers the 98-foot-tall booster off the launch pad 0.3 seconds later. The P80 first stage motor generates a maximum of 683,000 pounds of thrust.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:00:31 \u2013 Mach 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The Vega rocket surpasses the speed of sound as it soars on an easterly trajectory from French Guiana. The rocket will reach Max-Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure, at T+plus 53 seconds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:01:57 \u2013 First stage separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Having
Having consumed its 194,000 pounds (88 metric tons) of solid propellant, the 9.8-foot-diameter (3-meter) P80 first stage motor is jettisoned at an altitude of about 33 miles (53 kilometers). The second stage Zefiro 23 motor will ignite a second later to begin its 102-second firing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:03:40 \u2013 Second stage separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The Zefiro 23 motor burns out and jettisons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:04:03 \u2013 Third stage ignition<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Moving
Moving at a velocity of nearly 9,000 mph, or about 3.9 kilometers per second, the Vega rocket\u2019s Zefiro 9 motor ignites for the third stage burn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:04:08 \u2013 Fairing separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The Vega\u2019s 8.5-foot-diameter (2.6-meter) payload fairing is released as the rocket ascends into space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:06:42 \u2013 Third stage separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The Zefiro 9 third stage shuts down and separates, having accelerated the rocket to nearly orbital velocity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:07:52 \u2013 First AVUM ignition<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Vega rocket\u2019s Attitude and Vernier Module, or fourth stage, ignites for the first time. The AVUM burns hydrazine fuel with an RD-843 engine provided by Yuzhnoye of Ukraine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:14:09 \u2013 AVUM first cutoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The Vega\u2019s AVUM fourth stage is turned off after an 6-minute, 17-second burn, beginning a 26-minute coast until the engine is ignited again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:40:37 \u2013 Second AVUM ignition<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The AVUM fires a second time for a 85-second burn to put the Optsat 3000 satellite into its targeted orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:42:02 \u2013 AVUM second cutoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The AVUM engine shuts down after reaching a near circular orbit with an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers) and an inclination of 97 degrees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:42:49 \u2013 Optsat 3000 separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The 811-pound (368-kilogram) Optsat 3000 Italian military surveillance satellite deploys from the Vega rocket\u2019s upper payload position.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:52:04 \u2013 Vespa jettison<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Vespa dual-payload adapter jettisons to reveal the Ven\u00b5s satellite.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:53:05 \u2013 Third AVUM ignition<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
After jettisoning a cover to expose the Ven\u00b5s satellite, the AVUM\u2019s RD-843 engine fires a third time for a 58-second burn to boost into a higher orbit for deployment of Ven\u00b5s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+00:54:03 \u2013 AVUM third cutoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The AVUM fourth stage shuts down to begin a 41-minute coast phase before its next burn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+01:35:20 \u2013 Fourth AVUM ignition<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The AVUM main engine ignites a fourth time for a 64-second burn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+01:36:24 \u2013 AVUM fourth cutoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The RD-843 engine shuts down after reaching an orbit with an altitude of 447 miles (720 kilometers) and an inclination of 98 degrees. By this point in the mission, the Vega rocket has completed one orbit of the Earth and is flying over the west coast of South America.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+01:37:37 \u2013 Ven\u00b5s separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The 582-pound (264-kilogram) Ven\u00b5s environmental satellite deploys from the Vega rocket\u2019s upper stage. The AVUM upper stage will ignite again at T+plus 1 hour, 47 minutes, for a de-orbit burn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Vega rocket is set to deliver two satellites into similar but distinct orbits for the Italian military and the French and Israeli space agencies. Here are the key events scheduled during the European Vega rocket\u2019s launch from French Guiana with the Italian military\u2019s Optsat 3000 high-resolution reconnaissance satellite and the French-Israeli Ven\u00b5s environmental satellite. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[498,1244,690,159,2185,1775,242,1773],"class_list":["post-14444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-arianespace","tag-avio","tag-cnes","tag-earth-observation","tag-elbit","tag-electric-propulsion","tag-france","tag-guiana-space-center"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14444"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}