KYIV. Aug 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Vega launch vehicle (LV) with the Ukrainian engine has successfully put an Italian reconnaissance satellite OPTSAT-3000, as well as the French-Israeli satellite Venμs of the European Remote Sensing Satellite Copernicus to the sun-synchronous orbit.
According to a report on the website of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, the Vega rocket was launched at 04:58:33 Kyiv time from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, in what is the tenth launch under the Vega program and the second in 2017.
Both remote sensing satellites were manufactured by the Israeli defense concern Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The OPTSAT-3000 (368 kg) spacecraft was ordered by the Italian Defense Ministry, Venμs spacecraft weighing 264 kg was commissioned by the Israeli Space Agency (ISA) and the National Center for Space Studies of France (CNES).
The Vega was designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for carrying satellites with a weight up to 1,200 kilos to a 1,200-kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit and satellites with a weight of 1,500 kilograms to a 700-kilometer polar orbit.
The RD-868P cruise engine for the fourth stage of the rocket was developed by the Yuzhnoye (Pivdenne) Design Bureau and built by the Yuzhmash (Pivdenmash) Plant (both situated in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine).
The Ukrainian government and the ESA signed an agreement on cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space in 2008. The ESA unites 17 European countries.
