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Two Airbus satellites were carried by the European light launcher rocket Vega-C when it was lost Tuesday from French Guiana shortly after takeoff, according to the company that organised the launch.
The rocket was attempting to launch two Airbus Earth observation satellites into orbit. These satellites will join a network that now takes multiple high-quality pictures of any location on the globe each day.
Stephane Israel, CEO of commercial launch service provider Arianespace, declared from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana, “The mission is gone.”
The launcher’s trajectory diverged from its predetermined path and contacts were lost ten minutes after liftoff, at 10:47 pm (0147 GMT), it claimed.
According to a statement from the corporation, a “anomaly occurred” in the launcher’s second stage, “ending the Vega-C mission.
To ascertain the causes of this failure, data analysis was said to be under progress.
Arianespace discovered that there was no debris fallout upon takeoff.
After a successful first launch on July 13, Tuesday’s ceremony marked the rocket’s first commercial flight.
The mission was supposed to take place on November 24, but a defective launch element forced a month-long delay.
The fifth and last launch of the year for Europe’s Kourou spaceport took place on Tuesday.
On Wednesday at noon in Kourou, a news conference is scheduled.
