JAKARTA – The latest launch of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Vega rocket does not appear to have gone smoothly. The reason is, two tanks from the fourth stage of Vega AVUM were seriously damaged.
Initially, two of the four tanks for the final stage of Vega were reported to be lost by ESA. This important component made it difficult for Avio, the company that launched Vega, to find an alternative solution.
After being lost for several months, these two tanks were finally found by Avio. According to reports Spaceexplored, This tank was found in a rubbish dump and had been destroyed so it could not be reused.
Avio doesn’t know how the tank containing hypergolic propellant ended up in a landfill. They could only say that these tanks were lost after being renovated in storage.
Even though these two tanks were declared damaged, Avio is still trying to launch the Vega rocket in early 2024. The plan is that they will use two tanks that were tested 10 years ago and two new tanks that are still stored safely.
Considering that the other two tanks have not been used for a long time, it is possible that the Vega launch will not go well. The reason is, Avio does not know whether the tank is functional and meets the launch requirements.
Another plan that Avio is preparing is to replace the Vega final stage with the new AVUM+ stage that was previously used by the Vega C. Even though it seems newer, there is no guarantee that this launch will be successful.
The second launch of Vega C, an earlier version of the Vega rocket, failed completely due to problems with the second stage engine. Therefore, the two solutions from Avio do not provide a definite guarantee of launch next year.
Tag: esa rocket
2023-12-06 16:05:00
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