Italian Economic Diplomacy 30 April: breaking news from around the world

AVIO SPA – SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF VEGA VV18.
 
Yesterday, the VEGA VV18 mission successfully took off from the Kourou space base in French Guyana. The European launcher, designed, developed and built by AVIO Spa, placed in orbit the five satellites it had onboard: the new-generation French Pléiades Neo 3 satellite, built by Airbus Defence and Space, together with five other microsatellites, including the Norwegian Norsat 3 and four CubeSats for the operators Eutelsat, NanoAvionics/Aurora Insight and Spire, using a module derived from the SSMS adapter already validated in the VV16 mission in September 2020. The satellites have various applications, including Earth observation, sea route monitoring, telecommunications and technology.
The European launcher confirms its ability to transport groups of ride-share satellites into orbit together with the main payload. Combined with the new SSMS payload adapter, successfully tested on the VV16 flight, it increases Vega’s versatility to compete in the microsatellite market and offer customers more launch opportunities. The next flight, VV19, is scheduled for later this summer.