The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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Liftoff of flight VV02 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana occurred at 04:06 CEST (02:06 GMT) on 7 May (23:06 local time on 6 May) at the opening of the launch window.
After the separation of Proba-V, through a series of five burns and coasts, Vega moved into a second orbit at 668 km and an inclination of 98.13º for the two remaining satellites, VNRedsat and ESTCube-1.
The Vietnam Natural Resources, Environment and Disaster Monitoring Satellite – VNRedsat – was built by Astrium for the Vietnamese government.
ESTCube-1 will test solar sail technologies and help to establish an Estonian infrastructure for future space projects.
A final burn will deorbit the upper stage to ensure that it does not remain as a debris threat.