Avio S.p.A., the Italian prime contractor, launch service supplier, and launch operator for the Vega C mild satellite tv for pc launcher, is poised to fly the VV30 mission with the European Area Company’s Sentinel-3C and FLEX spacecraft using aboard a single Vega C rocket from the ELV launch pad at Kourou, French Guiana.
The launch is at present scheduled for 01:21 UTC on Tuesday, Sept. 15, with an instantaneous launch window.
The Vega C will take a northerly path after liftoff to position its payloads right into a sun-synchronous orbit inclined 98.6 levels to the Equator and round 810 km altitude. This orbit will allow the Sentinel-3C and FLEX payloads to watch all the floor of the Earth, in addition to passing over a given spot on our planet on the identical native time every day.
The VV30 launch will final 116 minutes from liftoff to the ultimate payload separation. Sentinel-3C will separate at T+ 1:00:49, simply after the second ignition of the AVUM+ fourth stage at T+55:28. FLEX will separate at T+1:56:03, and this shall be adopted by a fifth and closing burn for stage disposal, in step with greatest apply for decreasing the area particles hazard.
The Sentinel-3C satellite tv for pc after unpacking at Kourou, French Guiana. (Credit score: ESA/CNES/Avio)
The 1,143 kg Sentinel-3C satellite tv for pc, the centerpiece of this mission, is considered one of 4 Sentinel-3 household earth statement satellites developed as a part of ESA’s Copernicus Programme. The primary two satellites, 3A and 3B, flew from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia in 2016 and 2018, respectively, aboard Khrunichev Rockot launch automobiles primarily based on the SS-19 ICBM.
Sentinel-3C and 3D will lengthen the unique Sentinel-3 mission because the 3A and 3B satellites age out, carrying the Sentinel-3 program’s information file into the 2030s. The Sentinel-3 satellites are outfitted with a standard suite of devices to watch Earth with varied instruments.
A sea and land floor temperature radiometer can measure international sea temperatures to inside 0.3 levels Celsius, measuring within the seen, near-infrared, and short-wave infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. An ocean and land coloration instrument makes use of 5 cameras to supply a large discipline of view, and is a medium-resolution imaging spectrometer able to measuring in 21 bands from 400 nm to 1020 nm.
The FLEX satellite tv for pc be a part of with its launch adapter in Kourou, French Guiana. (Credit score: ESA/CNES/Avio)
An artificial aperture radar altimeter measures topography of our bodies of ice and water, together with sea ice, ice sheets, rivers, and lakes, with a 300 m decision and a complete vary error of as much as three centimeters. The radar instrument measures within the C and Ku bands and makes use of a microwave radiometer for atmospheric correction; it additionally makes use of Doppler orbitography and radio positioning built-in with a satellite tv for pc receiver for orbital positioning.
The Sentinel-3 satellites additionally use a microwave radiometer to measure water vapor, thermal radiation emitted by the Earth, and cloud water content material. These satellites additionally function a laser retroreflector which not solely gives an correct orbital place of the spacecraft but in addition can get hold of correct topography of water options when used with different devices. Lastly, the Sentinel-3C is provided with a worldwide navigation satellite tv for pc system receiver.
Sentinel-3C arrived on the launch web site in July 2026, together with the Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) payload manifested with it, and shall be joined by Sentinel-3D in orbit sooner or later. However there may be one other payload on this mission additionally aligned with ESA’s environmental statement priorities.
The Sentinel-3C and FLEX payloads simply earlier than encapsulation of their protecting fairing. (Credit score: ESA-M. Pedoussaut)
The 397 kg FLEX satellite tv for pc, like Sentinel-3C constructed by Thales Alenia Area, is provided with the Floris fluorescence imaging spectrometer. This instrument will measure vegetation fluorescence on a worldwide scale. When vegetation convert daylight and carbon dioxide into oxygen, their photosynthetic exercise isn’t seen to the bare eye, however is seen to the Floris instrument.
Scientists will use FLEX measurements to find out plant stress and well being. These measurements shall be used to find out plant photosynthesis results on Earth’s carbon and water cycles. Collectively, the FLEX and Sentinel-3C missions will add to the current European portfolio of Earth science missions.
This flight is barely the second for the Vega C program since Avio took full accountability for Vega launch companies from Arianespace. It’s also the second Vega C launch of 2026, after the SMILE mission on Might 18. The VV30 mission shall be adopted by the IRIDE Mission 2, Area Belt, and IRIDE Mission 1 flights, additionally at present scheduled to fly in 2026.
The Vega C program has a combined file, with the Pleiades Neo 5 & 6 mission failing on Dec. 21, 2022. The final 5 Vega C missions, together with the Sentinel-1C satellite tv for pc, all succeeded, giving the rocket a file of seven successes in eight makes an attempt thus far.
(Lead picture: The Vega VV30 mission on the launch pad. Credit score: ESA – M. Pedoussaut)
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