Elements have arrived in French Guiana for the next Vega launcher, which is scheduled for a November mission from the Spaceport to deploy Europe’s LISA Pathfinder – a pioneering scientific spacecraft that will set the stage for observing the Universe in a completely new way.
The Zefiro 23 and Zefiro 9 stages for Arianespace’s lightweight launcher were delivered to French Guiana this month aboard the MN Toucan, one of two ships regularly utilized for transporting Arianespace launcher components from Europe to the company’s South American operations base. They were part of the MN Toucan’s cargo that also included components for an Ariane 5 to be used on a September mission with two telecommunications satellites.
Zefiro 23 and Zefiro 9 are the solid propellant second and third stages, respectively, for the four-stage Vega launcher, which is produced by industrial prime contractor ELV – a jointly owned company of Avio and the Italian Space Agency.
