Liftoff of flight VV02 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana occurred at 04:06 CEST (02:06 GMT) on 7 May (23:06 local time on 6 May) at the opening of the launch window.
The Vega launcher has flawlessly delivered Proba-V into its planned Sun-synchronous circular orbit at 820 km altitude and an inclination of 98.73º. This occurred 55 minutes and 27 seconds after launch. VNRedsat and ESTCube-1 is released some two hours later.
The Proba-V prime payload is the first of four ESA missions to use Vega as part of the Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment (VERTA) programme to demonstrate the system’s flexibility. Proba-V carries a reduced version of the Vegetation camera currently flying on the Spot satellites to provide a daily overview of global vegetation growth.
ESA’s Vega launcher scores new success with proba-v