European Space Agency’s Vega Rocket launches for maiden voyage
Saturday, February 18th, 2012 6:36:17 by Taimoor Tariq
At 7:00 AM (10:00 GMT), the new Vega rocket, designed by the European Space Agency launched successfully from Kourou, the French Guyana, off the northern coast of South America. Though Vega is not a gigantic rocket, it is considered to be more effective
than other rockets. The rocket is carrying 9 satellites which includes LARES that is a frame-dragging measurement satellite.
Vega, which takes its name after the second-brightest star in the northern hemisphere, is comprised of a booster that stands about 100 feet (30 m) and 10 feet (3 m) wide. Its total weight is of 137 tonnes at liftoff and it has four stages, three solid-propellant
stages and a fourth stage, dubbed AVUM that carries the payload.
The design of the Vega is complimented by the existing Soyuz rockets and the larger Ariane 5 boosters. These boosters are used for scientific and Earth-observation missions. The total payload of Vega can reach upto 5,500 pounds.
The nine included satellites are the above-mentioned LARES, ALMASat-1 – a microsatellite that will test how this system will perform on future missions, and CubeSats – of which there are seven that are actually nanosatellites (2.2 lbs, 1kg) developed by
250 university students from 6 different countries over the last four years.
The CubeSats include Xatcobeo, which is on a mission to demonstrate software-defined and solar panel deployment, Robusta, which is going to test and evaluate the low level effects of radiation on transistors, e-st@r, a demonstration of an active three-axis
attitude determination and control system, Goliat, which will image Earth using digital cameras, PW-Sat, testing atmospheric drag augmentation, MaSat-1, which will demonstrate various spacecraft avionics and UniCubeSat GG, which will study gravity gradients.
Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=13158
Posted by Taimoor Tariq
on Feb 18 2012. Filed under Sci-Tech.
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