Vega flight VV16

Vega flight VV16, also called SSMS PoC Flight (for Small Spacecraft Mission Service Proof of Concept Flight), will be the 16th launch of the Vega rocket.[2][3]

Vega flight VV16
CNES CSG sticker artwork
Vega launch
Launch1 September 2020 (2020-09-01)[1]
OperatorArianespace
PadKourou ELV
Payload53 satellites
OutcomePlanned
Vega launches

Payload

This first low Earth orbit rideshare commercial flight for 21 customers from 13 countries will embark 53 satellites arranged in the modular SSMS dispenser.[2]

Of these 53 satellites, 7 weigh between 15 kg and 150 kg, and the other 46 are smaller CubeSats (between 0.25U and 6U):[2]

Payload configuration
Name Mass Orbit Lifetime Owner Manufacturer Application Notes
ATHENA 138 kg515 km SSO2 yearsPointView (Facebook)Maxar TechnologiesTelecommunication[4][5][6]
GHGSat-C1 15.4 kg515 km SSO3 yearsGHGSatSFLRemote sensing
NEMO-HD 65 kg515 km SSO3-5 yearsSpace-SISFL with Space-SIRemote sensing
UPMSat-2 45 kg515 km SSO2 yearsIRD-UPMIRD-UPMTech. demo.
ESAIL 112 kg515 km SSO4 yearsExactEarthLuxSpaceRemote sensing
ION CubeSat Carrier 150 kg515 km SSO4 yearsPlanet LabsD-OrbitTech. demo.Contains 12 CubeSats.
NewSat-6 43.5 kg515 km SSO3-4 yearsSatellogicSatellogicRemote sensing
SpaceBEE 10-21 530 km SSOSwarm TechnologySwarm TechnologyTelecommunication12 CubeSats (0.25U)
Flock-4v 1-14 530 km SSOPlanet LabsPlanet LabsRemote sensing14 CubeSats (3U)
LEMUR-2 112-119 530 km SSOSPIRE GlobalSPIRE GlobalTelecommunication8 CubeSats (3U)
³Cat-5 /A and /B 530 km SSOUPC and ESADeimos and TyvakRemote sensing2 CubeSats (6U)
DIDO-3 530 km SSOSpacePharmaSpacePharmaResearch1 CubeSat (3U)
PICASSO-BE 530 km SSOESABIRA-IASBRemote sensing1 CubeSat (3U)
SIMBA 530 km SSOESAKMI-IRMRemote sensing1 CubeSat (3U)
TRISAT 530 km SSOUniversity of MariborSkyLabsRemote sensing1 CubeSat (3U)
TTÜ-100 530 km SSOTalTechTalTechRemote sensing1 CubeSat (2U)
AMICal Sat 530 km SSOCSUG and MSUCSUG and SatRevolutionRemote sensing1 CubeSat (1U)
NAPA-1 530 km SSORoyal Thai Air ForceISISpaceRemote sensing1 CubeSat (6U)
TARS-1 530 km SSOKepler CommunicationsÅAC Clyde SpaceTelecommunication1 CubeSat (6U)
Tyvak-0171 530 km SSO(undisclosed)Tyvak(undisclosed)1 CubeSat (6U)
OSM-1 Cicero 530 km SSOOrbital SolutionsTyvakRemote sensing1 CubeSat (6U)

Launch campaign

Launch campaign activities were significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To prevent the spread of the epidemic in French Guiana and protect Guiana Space Centre employees, all launch activities were suspended on 16 March 2020.[7][8][9] Operations for VV16 and Ariane flight VA253 could not resume until 28 April 2020.[10][11][12] VV16 activities were listed among the top priorities at the reopening of the Guiana Space Center on 11 May 2020[13].

Flight

The flight was initially scheduled to take place on 19 June 2020 at 01:51:10 UTC (18 June 2020 at 22:51:10 local time) but got postponed twice due to unfavourable high-altitude winds.[14][15] The launch was then postponed to take place on 27 June 2020 at 01:51:10 UTC[16], and later to 29 June 2020 at 01:51 UTC due to the weather conditions, and had to be postponed again until August 17, 2020. It will be launched from the ELV launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana.[2] The launch date was further adjusted to September 1, 2020.[1]

It will deploy all satellites into 2 slightly different Sun-synchronous orbits: the 7 heaviest satellites will be separated at an altitude of roughly 515 km (starting 40 minutes and 25 seconds until 52 minutes and 35 seconds after liftoff), before the upper stage is re-ignited to place the 46 lightest satellites at an altitude of approximately 530 km (starting 1 hour 42 minutes and 16 seconds until 1 hour 44 minutes and 56 seconds after liftoff).[2]

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See also

References
  1. "Vega Flight VV16". Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. "Vega flight VV16 launch kit" (PDF). arianespace.com. Arianespace. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  3. "Rideshare service for light satellites to launch on Vega". www.esa.int. European Space Agency. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  4. Krebs, Gunter. "Athena". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  5. "PointView Public Summary" (PDF). NOAA. Retrieved 17 June 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. "PointView Tech LLC Experimental License FCC Filings". FCC Report. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 17 June 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. Arianespace, March 16, 2020, "Face à l’épidémie de Covid-19 et pour mettre pleinement en œuvre les mesures décidées par le gouvernement français, les campagnes de lancement en cours au Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) sont suspendues."
  8. CNES, March 16, 2020, "Au Centre Spatial Guyanais, suspension des campagnes de lancement, mise et maintien en sécurité des moyens opérationnels de la base, des lanceurs et des satellites en attente de lancement."
  9. CNES, March 23, 2020, "All launch preparations have been suspended due to the potential uncertainty and danger of the health situation at a time when great care needs to be taken to prevent the spread of the epidemic in French Guiana."
  10. CNES, April 28, 2020, "Operations to ready for Vega flight VV16 and Ariane 5 flight VA253 have resumed. Teams stationed permanently in French Guiana have been working to restore the base to its operational configuration since 21 April, applying the necessary distancing and transmission reduction measures."
  11. Arianespace, April 29, 2020, "Following the measures presented by the French government on April 28 as part of the gradual resumption of activity planned from May 11, and the announcement of a restart of operational activities at the Guiana Space Center, Arianespace confirms its following launch objectives: [...] Flight VA253 – A dual-payload Ariane 5 mission for two customers, Intelsat and B-SAT, at the end of July."
  12. Henry 2020, "The reopening of the Guiana Space Centre, which suspended operations in mid-March as part of France’s effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to allow Arianespace to resume satellite launches from there by mid-June."
  13. CNES, May 11, 2020, "Priority projects and operations that will be resuming on site at the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) are: the Vega VV16 and Ariane VA253 launch campaigns and the arrival of teams who will be observing a strict 14-day quarantine from 11 and 25 May respectively."
  14. "Flight VV16: Vega – SSMS PoC Flight – Launch delay due to weather conditions". Arianespace. Arianespace. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  15. "Vega Flight VV16 – the SSMS PoC mission – New postponement due to weather conditions". Arianespace. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  16. "Flight VV16: Vega – SSMS PoC Flight – Resumption of launch operations". Arianespace. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
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