Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.
Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.
| Year | Historical missions | Forecast launches |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 3 | 0 |
| 2026 | 1 | 4 |
| 2027 | 0 | 5 |
| 2028 | 0 | 6 |
| 2029 | 0 | 6 |
| 2030 | 0 | 6 |
| 2031 | 0 | 6 |
| 2032 | 0 | 6 |
| 2033 | 0 | 6 |
| 2034 | 0 | 6 |
| 2035 | 0 | 6 |
| 2036 | 0 | 6 |
| 2037 | 0 | 6 |
| 2038 | 0 | 6 |
| 2039 | 0 | 6 |
Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.
| Variant | Orbit | Capacity | Altitude | Inclination | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vega C | LEO | 3,300 kg | Unknown | Unknown | ESA Vega-C page |
Vega C | LEO | 3,000 kg | 500 km | 5.2 deg | Avio Vega C User's Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Latest launched missions using variants in this family.
| Mission | Variant | Launch |
|---|---|---|
| SMILE Mission | Vega C | May 19, 2026 |
| Kompsat-7 | Vega C | Dec 1, 2025 |
| CO3D/MicroCarb | Vega C | Jul 26, 2025 |
| Biomass Mission |
Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.
| Variant | Stages | Missions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Vega C | Not stated | 7 | Active |
Vega-C Block 2 | 4 | 0 | Development |
| 2040 | 0 | 6 |
| 2041 | 0 | 6 |
1 launch location represented.
| Year | Location | Launches | Confidence | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 4 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2027 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 5 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2028 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2029 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2030 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2031 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2032 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2033 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2034 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2035 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2036 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2037 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2038 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2039 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2040 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. |
| 2041 | Guiana Space Centre | Vega Launch Zone | 6 | 35% | Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization. Site-year coverage backfill copied n... |
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C | LEO | 2,560 kg | 700 km | 50 deg | Avio Vega C User's Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Vega C | LEO | 2,550 kg | 500 km | 50 deg | Avio Vega C User's Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Vega C | LEO | 2,470 kg | 500 km | 70 deg | Avio Vega C User's Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Vega C | SSO | 2,423 kg | 500 km | 97.4 deg | Avio Vega C User's Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Vega C | LEO | 2,410 kg | 700 km | 70 deg | Avio Vega C User's Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Vega C | LEO | 2,350 kg | 500 km | 25 deg | Avio Vega C User's Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Vega C | LEO | 2,340 kg | 700 km | 25 deg | Avio Vega C User's Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Vega C | SSO | 2,300 kg | Unknown | Unknown | ESA Vega-C page |
Vega C | SSO | 2,266 kg | 700 km | 98.2 deg | Avio Vega C User's Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Vega C | SSO | 2,200 kg | 700 km | Unknown | CNES CSG Vega-C page |
Vega C | HEO | 2,200 kg | Unknown | Unknown | Avio Vega C User Manual Issue 1 Rev 0 |
Vega-C Block 2 | LEO | 600 kg | Unknown | Unknown | Space Launch Now Vega-C Block 2 / Space Rider |
Vega C |
| Apr 29, 2025 |
| Sentinel-1C Mission | Vega C | Dec 5, 2024 |
| Launch 2022-F06 | Vega C | Dec 21, 2022 |
| LARES 2 Mission | Vega C | Jul 13, 2022 |
Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.
| Mission | Variant | Announced |
|---|---|---|
No forecasted missionsNo upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family. | ||
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Vega C cadence curve: conservative European small-launch steady state after return-to-flight and production normalization.
Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace, and Giulio Ranzo, CEO of Avio, signed the Vega C batch agreement on 2021-03-19.
The batch of ten Vega C launchers is scheduled to begin launching in 2023.
Vega C launchers produced within Batch 4 will serve institutional and commercial missions from 2023 onwards.
Arianespace planned three Vega launches in 2021, including the first launch of the upgraded Vega C.
The European Commission planned a bulk procurement of Ariane 6 and Vega C vehicles during the 2021–27 budget to fulfill Galileo and Copernicus missions.
The contract provides nearly €300 million ($365,000,000) to build two second-generation Cosmo-SkyMed satellites scheduled to launch in early 2024 and early 2025, likely aboard a Vega C or Soyuz rocket.
The second satellite from that initial second-generation batch is scheduled to launch from the Guiana Space Center in late 2021 on an Arianespace-operated Vega C.
Space Rider’s planned 2023 launch is to be aboard a next-generation Vega C rocket built by Avio and operated by Arianespace, and that launch is not covered under the 2020-12-09 contract.
Airbus signed a contract with Arianespace on 2020-12-07 to launch a four-satellite optical Earth observation constellation aboard a Vega C rocket in 2023.
Avio delayed the debut of the Vega C launch vehicle to no earlier than mid-2021 to catch up on Vega missions delayed by the first Vega failure in July 2019.
Airbus chose Vega C for the CO3D mission because the launcher is suited to deploy multiple small payloads into a target orbit of 500 km.
The CO3D mission is scheduled for 2023 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana using a Vega C launch vehicle.
The ClearSpace-1 chaser spacecraft has a mass of 500 kg and is slated to launch aboard a Vega-C rocket in 2025.
Airbus plans to complete the four-satellite Pléiades-Neo constellation in 2022 by launching Pléiades-Neo 3 and 4 on a single Vega C.
Avio delayed the maiden flight of Vega C to mid-2021 to catch up on Vega missions delayed by the 2019 failure.
LSTM is slated to launch on a Vega C in 2029.
CIMR is scheduled to launch in 2028 on an Arianespace Vega C rocket.
The CHIME mission is slated to launch in 2029 on a Vega C rocket.
Avio had planned to conduct three Vega launches in 2020 and still aimed to debut Vega C before 2021.
Vega C will use a single P120C as its main stage and is currently expected to debut in mid-2021.