https://cnes.fr/sites/default/files/2025-01/CP002-2025_-_Voeux_Presse.pdf [Jan 22, translated]
The Japanese MMX (Martian Moons Exploration) mission will launch in October 2026 to study the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. A small Franco-German mobile robot named IDEFIX, operated by CNES and the DLR, will be dropped on Phobos as a scout to characterize the surface of the Martian moon.
Deimos leads one of the 3 consortia that will define the next Spanish mission for observation of the Earth, SEOSAT-2, aiming for a launch in 2026.The team, formed by Deimos, Satlantis, Sener and Alter-Technologies, will study the options to be proposed to ESA/CDTI for selection of the best technical solution for SEOSAT-2 mission. Deimos proposes a heterogeneous new generation constellation of satellites, with a fast development program and unprecedented flexibility to fulfill the mission requirements.
The PLATiNO 1 platform , the first mission of the PLATiNO program, left the SITAEL plant in Mola di Bari yesterday bound for Thales Alenia Space Italia in Rome.The first electric-powered satellite platform of the Italian Space Agency, designed for various types of missions, including Earth Observation and Telecommunications. PLATiNO 1 carries a miniaturized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and will orbit in formation with one of the second-generation COSMO satellites and will produce bistatic and monostatic images.The satellite platform is an example of a fruitful collaboration between Italian excellences that integrates units and subsystems developed by the companies involved in the project: SITAEL , Thales Alenia Space Italia , Leonardo and Airbus Italia .This transfer marks an important milestone in the path that leads PLATiNO 1 towards launch. After months of integration and testing, the platform left SITAEL for the line for the final integration of the payload and external units at the Thales Alenia Space Italia plant. The “protoflight” environmental tests on the satellite will follow. After these final phases, PLATiNO 1 will embark on the journey to French Guiana where it will be launched into orbit by a Vega-C carrier.
Arianespace @Arianespace#VV26 lift-off from @EuropeSpacePort this early morning! With Biomass satellite for @esa_eo @esa on board a Vega C rocket.
Rideshare:Q2 - Hyperfield-1B - Vega C - Kourou ELV
🚀 Exciting milestone news! We’re proud to announce that Hyperfield-1B, our second first-generation satellite, has been delivered to Exolaunch for launch preparations.
Is the correct designation ELV or ZLV?
8 HEO satellites for Italy's IRIDE constellation being shipped to California https://www.linkedin.com/posts/argotecsrl_a-major-milestone-on-the-road-to-launch-activity-7322980017259315201-Kz6ghttps://twitter.com/Argotec_Space/status/1917230414097485987
Sep 17, 2024...France expects to launch the demonstrator satellite, called Splinter, in the next 12 to 24 months, Adam said. The overall project, dubbed Toutatis, will also include a low Earth orbit observation satellite called Lisa-1, and the goal is to test operational scenarios....France still hasn’t launched its experimental patroller nanosatellite Yoda, which is ready and waiting to be lifted into geostationary orbit, according to Adam, who declined to say when that might happen. Originally planned for 2023, Yoda has been delayed due to a lack of available launch slots.
1 INTRODUCTIONPLATiNO (Mini Piattaforma spaziaLe ad Alta TecNOlogia funded by ASI and developed by Sitael) is missionized to embark a compact hyperspectral payload (<100kg) to acquire nadir and near nadir push-broom mapping of the Earth in the VIS-SWIR spectral range with a spectral resolution of 10nm and an on ground sampling distance from 31m to 21m pending the acquisition type: strip or spot.Each satellite includes an ancillary panchromatic camera which GSD is in the order of 5m. This paper reports hyperspectral characteristic as baseline apart where specifically addressed for panchromatic camera.Analysis for a constellation of 4 LEO satellites are presented but this will be updated to include a 5th satellite.The orbit rephasing and maintenance is performed through Hall Effect Thruster – HT100 developed by Sitael and funded by ASI.2 APPLICATION CONTEXTThe presented constellation is under development as per contract between Sitael as satellite Prime and ESA IRIDE Integrate Project Team in the context of the Italian PNRR (Piano Nazionale Ripresa e Resilienza or NRRP “National Recovery and Resilience Plan”), recommended by European Commission on 22 June 2021 [COM(2021) 344 final 2021/0168] and endorsed by EU Council on 13 July 2021.The Hyperspectral Payload is manufactured by Leonardo as recurrent of the PLATiNO 4 program funded by ASI.The mission is named Iride Hyperspectral; here reported as IRIDE - HYP.
Furthermore, regarding the communication satellites [SATCOM] in geostationary orbit, the second vehicle of the Syracuse 4 constellation will be launched on June 16 by an Ariane 5 rocket. As for the third which was initially planned, Syracuse 4C, it does not appear in the LPM 2024-30 project. On the other hand, studies "for the construction of the Syracuse 5 generation" will be launched, assured Mr. Lecornu.
Satellite: CSG-3...Launch ≥2026 EOL ≥2032Last update: 2025-04-14
KOMPSAT-6 Mission...Launch Date Aug 2025
KOMPSAT-7 Mission...Launch Date Sep 2025
Approved at the ESA Council at Ministerial Level in 2022, ESA’s LEO-PNT In-Orbit Demonstrator will showcase the potential of such a layer through a constellation of 10 satellites that will test the use of novel signals and frequency bands in representative end-user environments. The constellation is under development, with first satellite acceptance reviews happening this year, in preparation towards first launch. Demonstration is expected throughout 2026 and 2027.The next proposed phase of the programme, a LEO-PNT industrialisation and in-orbit validation phase is in preparation to be proposed at the ESA Council at Ministerial Level in November 2025. This phase aims at bridging the in-orbit demonstration mission and potential future operational systems, both institutional and/or commercial initiatives.
Quote from: Alter Sachse on 04/29/2025 01:34 pmIs the correct designation ELV or ZLV?ELV=ZLV
Quote from: Salo on 04/29/2025 07:58 pmQuote from: Alter Sachse on 04/29/2025 01:34 pmIs the correct designation ELV or ZLV?ELV=ZLVIIRC, Arianespace planned to call it "ELV", but they couldn't use it because it was Avio property. Thus they called it "ZLV".
Updated on April 04, 2025 ...Vega-C operates at the Guiana Space Centre from the same ELV (Ensemble de Lancement Vega) pad as its predecessor. The pad has been extended to allow both variants—Vega or Vega-C—to launch from the same facilities.
Avio Plans Introduction of Vega Next Rocket Beyond 2032By Andrew Parsonson -September 12, 2024Italian rocket builder Avio has revealed that it plans to introduce its post-Vega-E “Vega Next” rocket beyond 2032.Last week the final flight of the original Vega rocket was completed, with the rocket successfully deploying the Sentinel 2C Earth observation satellite. Avio is now working toward requalifying the second stage of the rocket’s successor, Vega C, for a return-to-flight mission that is expected to be attempted before the end of 2024. Assuming its return is successful, the rocket will become the company’s primary offering for its launch business going forward. However, it will likely not remain in its current form for long.In its 2024 half-year financial report, Avio outlined the company’s development timeline from the reintroduction of Vega C to beyond 2030. Following the full introduction of Vega C, Avio will begin working toward a midlife upgrade of the rocket. This more powerful version, which will be called Vega C+, will utilize a P160 first stage booster, an upgraded variant of the P120 booster. According to Avio, this version of the rocket will offer a 200-kilogram improvement in payload performance over a standard Vega C rocket.In addition to working toward an upgrade of the rocket, Avio is also in the process of developing a new upper stage engine to replace the Ukrainian-made RD-843 engine currently being utilized.According to Avio, production of the RD-843 engines, which the company refers to as the MEA engine, continues despite Russia’s continued invasion of the country. This means that the supply of MEA engines is secure in the medium term from 2025 to 2027. However, the company has also not excluded the possibility of a worsening outlook in Ukraine. It is, as a result, exploring alternatives. The long term goal is to complete the development of the Multi-Purpose Green Engine (MPGE), which will replace the MEA engines aboard both Space Rider and Vega C. In March 2023, Avio received €55 million from Italy’s covid recovery fund (PNRR) to complete development of the MPGE project.Much like Vega C, Vega C+ will not serve as the company’s primary launch vehicle for very long with the introduction of the Vega E rocket expected in 2027. This version of the rocket will retain the first and second stages of the Vega C+ rocket and substitute the third and fourth stages for a single liquid fuel stage powered by the company’s new M10 methalox rocket engine.At the same time, Avio will also be working on its In Flight Demonstrator (IFD) vehicles which will be used to study reusable rocket technology that can be applied to the company’s Vega E successor. The programme, which was initially referred to as the Space Transportation System (STS), received €181.6 million in PNRR funding in 2023. However, that award was initially allocated for one two-stage demonstrator with the programme now shifting to include a second vehicle. The first IFD vehicle will be a small single-stage-to-orbit demonstrator. Avio will then move onto the two-stage-to-orbit rocket demonstrator. Both rockets will utilize the company’s M10 rocket engine. The first IFD flight is expected to be conducted in 2026.In addition to the IFD vehicles, Avio will also be working on another key piece of its future in the M60 rocket engine, which will be capable of generating 60 tonnes of thrust. The High Thrust Engine (HTE) programme under which the M60 engine is being developed received €103.7 million in PNRR funding in early 2023. Development of the engine is expected to be completed in 2026. Once operational, it will be utilized for what the company refers to as its Vega Next rocket. According to Avio, it projects that it will be able to introduce this, its first fully liquid-fueled rocket, beyond 2032.
