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On 8 October at 22:36 local time (9 October at 02:36 BST, 03:36 CEST) the 23rd Vega flight saw 12 satellites launched into Earth orbit. The rocket\u2019s main passengers were the Earth observing THEOS-2 satellite and the meteorological satellite Triton.<\/p>\n
THEOS-2 (THailand Earth Observation System-2) is an observation satellite manufactured by Airbus in for the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand. THEOS-2 is the largest of the two satellites in the series and will provide the Ministry of Agriculture of Thailand with information on water resources, weather and land use for planning and management.<\/p>\n
Triton (formerly known as FORMOSAT-7R) is a Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) satellite that will collect signals that bounce off the sea surface to help scientists calculate wind field over our oceans. This data will be shared with Taiwan\u2019s Central Weather Administration, contributing to the forecast of typhoon intensity and their trajectory.<\/p>\n
Vega is ESA\u2019s small launcher \u2013 first launched in 2012 \u2013 specialising in placing medium-sized satellites into low Earth polar orbits that are ideal for scientific and Earth observation missions as well as ride sharing \u2013 putting multiple satellites into orbit on a single flight. It is a separate launch vehicle from the newer Vega-C and the two launchers share only one stage-type between them. On this commercial flight, ESA was involved in developing five of the eight secondary missions.<\/p>\n
Large vegetation scanning, in a miniature format<\/b><\/p>\n
The\u00a0Proba-V Companion CubeSat<\/a>\u00a0will fly at 564 km altitude to perform co-observations of global vegetation with Europe\u2019s two Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites, which are similarly optimised for land cover and vegetation. Comparable to the Proba-V satellite that was launched in 2013, its younger sibling is much smaller and will fly at a slightly different orbit.<\/p>\n Pretty cool<\/b><\/p>\n The\u00a0PRETTY (Passive REflecTomeTry and dosimetry) CubeSat<\/a>\u00a0will demonstrate using global navigation system signals that bounce of Earth allowing the satellite to measure sea ice amongst other things. The single cubesat is made of just three 10 cm cubes.<\/p>\n Small platforms, big ideas<\/b><\/p>\n Managed on behalf of the European Commission by ESA\u2019s small satellite platform unit, three missions on this Vega launch are allowing for the early orbital testing of new technologies to make Europe\u2019s space sector more competitive.<\/p>\n \u2211yndeo<\/p>\n Among the smallest passengers are also the most ambitious in nature: twin miniaturised laboratories, or CubeSats, for the in-orbit demonstration of disruptive, state-of-the-art space technologies.\u00a0The seven test payloads aboard the European Commission-supported CubeSat Carrier (CSC) satellites,\u00a0\u2211yndeo-1, and \u2211yndeo-2<\/a>, include an innovative plasma jet pack and an ultra-sensitive magnetic instrument. The latter is planned for ESA\u2019s future LISA constellation, which will need to maintain a precise position in deep space in order to detect the nearly imperceivable passage of gravitational waves.<\/p>\n Estonia\u2019s electric space sail<\/u><\/p>\n The shoebox-sized\u00a0ESTCube-2<\/a>\u00a0will survey Estonian vegetation and be the first in-orbit test of an \u2018e-sail\u2019 tether. This will be deployed to brake the CubeSat\u2019s orbit and accelerate its end of life, helping to keep space clear of dangerous debris.<\/p>\n The electric sail is a 30-m long interweaved aluminium tether line that measures just half a millimetre in thickness \u2013 around the diameter of the average human hair. Running a charge along it will generate momentum, causing it to act as a \u2018plasma brake\u2019 as opposition from Earth\u2019s magnetic field makes it slow down in its orbit and lose altitude.<\/p>\n Three formation flyers<\/u><\/p>\n