The European Space Agency ( ESA ) announced the event of a month prospicient investigation into thefailed launching of its Vega - C rocketback in December , pinpointing a malfunction with a motor element as the reason behind the catastrophic anomaly .
The Independent Enquiry Commission shared the solution of its investigating on Friday , reveal that the reason behind the delegation failure was a gradual impairment of the Vega - C second degree ’s nozzle , ESAwrote in a affirmation .
Vega - C took off on December 20 , 2022 from the Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana , channel the Neo 5 and Neo 6 satellite for for Airbus’Pléiades NeoEarth - imagery configuration . About two minutes and 27 seconds after launch , the rocket ’s second microscope stage , called the Zefiro 40 , suffered a reduction in force per unit area and the mission was terminate . The rocket , developed by ESA , built by Italian company Avio , and operated by Arianespace , failed to extend to range and its warhead was destroyed .
Vega-C rocket launching from the Kourou space base, French Guiana on 25 February 2025.Photo: JM Guillon (AP)
According to the results of the investigation , the throat insert of Zefiro 40 ’s nose — the part of the motor where the hot exhaust system leave the combustion chamber — suffered from a “ thermo - mechanically skillful over - wearing away , ” ESA wrote . When the throat insert eroded , the bedchamber air pressure dropped and caused a reduction in the skyrocket ’s poke . The delegacy concluded that the cloth that create up the throat insert , a specific character of carbon copy - carbon ( C - C ) , would no longer be used for flight , and that the equipment failure was “ probably due to a flaw in the homogeneity of the material , ” ESA write . Avio procured this wrong part from Ukraine .
“ look at the nature of the VV22 anomaly , the Commission emphasizes that its conclusions on Zefiro 40 do not affect the Vega catapult , ” ESA wrote in its statement . “ In this setting , Arianespace decided to adapt its launch docket to transfer a mission to one of its two remaining Vega launchers with a targeted launch date before the remnant of summertime 2023 . ”
Vega - C made its debutin July 2022 , require off for the first metre from the place delegacy ’s launching facility in Guiana . The medium - raising rocket was hailed as a desirable successor to the smallVegalauncher , which was in performance for ten years . The European space manufacture as a whole was count on Vega - C to provide a kind of local access to Earth orbit , deliver payloads and uphold Europe ’s presence in the industry .
The rocket ’s second go at liftoff may not have kick the bucket as plan , but ESA and Arianespace is quick to see Vega - C pilot again .
More : Astra Investigation Uncovers Cause of Failed Rocket Launch
airbusArianespaceOuter spaceRocketrySpaceflightVega
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