KYIV. March 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Vega launch vehicle (LV) with the Ukrainian engine was successfully launched on Tuesday from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The Sentinel-2B Earth observation satellite for Copernicus was put into orbit.
According to a report on the website of Pivdenmash (Yuzhmash, Dnipro), the launch from the spaceport in French Guiana was the ninths launch under the Vega program and first in 2017.
According to the report, the Sentinel-2B satellite is the fourth satellite launched for Copernicus.
Copernicus (earlier GMES) is a global environment monitoring system aimed at achieving a global, continuous, autonomous, high quality, wide range Earth observation capacity.
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.
The medium-term plans announced by the Ukrainian State Space Agency in 2015 include Ukraine’s gradual entry into the ESA and integration of the Ukrainian rocket and space industry with the European one.
