Vega | CERÉS 1, 2 & 3 (Auto Orbit)

Craft celebrating the successful launch of flight VV-20 on the Vega Rocket by Arianespace carrying the CERÉS 1,2 & 3 satellites

Mission - CERÉS 1, 2 & 3

Arianespace’s twelfth launch of 2021 with the third Vega of the year will place its satellite passengers into Sun-synchronous orbit. The launcher will be carrying a total payload of approximately 1548 kg.

The launch will be performed in Kourou, French Guiana.

What is CERÉS ?

CERES is a French reconnaissance satellite mission, which will consist of three satellites flying in formation in low Earth orbit (LEO). Once in orbit, it will be the first operational space-based signal intelligence (SIGINT) system in Europe. The mission will be conducted by the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) and will be supported by the French space agency, CNES.

The two primary contractors for the CERES mission are Airbus Defense and Space and Thales Defense Mission Systems. Airbus has been contracted for the space segment, including the three satellites, while Thales is contracted for the payload, providing the EliteBus satellite buses, as well as the user ground segment of the mission.

Where are the satellites going? :

Low Earth orbit (LEO) at 75° inclination

Rocket: Vega

Vega is Arianespace’s small-lift rocket, built by the Italian aerospace company Avio. Vega is named after the brightest star in constellation Lyra. The rocket is 30 m (98 ft) tall, with a diameter of 3 m (~10 ft), and has three solid motor stages topped by a liquid propellant fourth stage. Vega first launched in 2012, and has suffered two launch failures, one in 2019 (VV15) and another in 2020 (VV17).
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Craft Notes:

1. Auto-Launch to Orbit by Preprogrammed Vizzy. (Throttle 100%)
2. Multiple Pad and Rocket Camera setups
3. Preprogrammed Vizzy for Launch and circulation phases

*Disable RCS (group 10) after stage 1 separation (manuallly)
Fairing Deploy to be done after 70 km AGL (manuallly)
*FInal orbit insertion (500 x 500 km) and payload deploy to be done manually

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Credits:

Vizzy by: KAL

Modifications to Vega, Space-crafts and Vizzy by OrbiteX