Launcher integration begins for Vega-C inaugural flight VV21

Launcher integration for the inaugural flight of Vega-C began with the P120 solid-fuel main stage being delivered to the Vega Launch Zone (Zone de Lancement Vega, or ZLV) at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on 15 April 2022.

For this inaugural flight, the principal payload will be LARES-2, a scientific mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Also onboard will be six European research CubeSats.
On the wave of Vega’s success, Member States at the ESA Ministerial meeting in December 2014 agreed to develop the more powerful Vega-C to respond to an evolving market and to long-term institutional needs.
Vega-C increases performance from Vega’s current 1.5 t to about 2.2 t in a reference 700 km polar orbit, covering identified European institutional users’ mission needs, with no increase in launch service and operating costs.

The participating states in this development are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Vega-C will also accommodate the flight-proven Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) dispenser, which further reduces cost-to-orbit by enabling rideshare missions, with or without a large, primary payload.