Penultimate Vega Mission Succeeds, Delays to Vega-C Leave Europe With Reduced Launch Autonomy

After a two-day delay, on Sunday (October 8), a European Vega rocket thundered into the sky from Kourou, Grinch Guiana on its penultimate launch, ferrying 12 Earth-observation satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO). A little over a decade after its debut flight in 2012, the rocket will be replaced next year by its upgraded and more powerful successor, Vega-C. That succession, however, is facing delays that may leave Europe without launch autonomy for much longer than previously thought.