Avio S.p.A. is an Italian aerospace company specializing in space propulsion and launch systems. As the prime contractor for the Vega rocket family, including Vega and Vega C, Avio provides launch services for institutional, governmental, and commercial payloads. They are also a subcontractor for the Ariane program, supplying components like boosters and stage separation motors and partners with organizations like the European Space Agency (ESA). Associated keywords include: space launchers, solid-propellant motors, liquid propulsion, Vega, Vega C, Ariane, ESA.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
Avio delayed the maiden flight of Vega C to mid-2021 to catch up on Vega missions delayed by the 2019 failure.
SEOSAT-Ingenio was mounted atop a VESPA (Vega Secondary Payload Adaptor) dispenser produced by Airbus in Spain for Vega prime contractor Avio, with TARANIS positioned inside the VESPA structure.
Airbus in Spain produced the VESPA (Vega Secondary Payload Adaptor) for Vega launcher prime contractor Avio.
Avio had planned to conduct three Vega launches in 2020 and still aimed to debut Vega C before 2021.
Pending research and development contracts for European Space Agency projects agreed at the agency’s 2019 ministerial accounted for much of a 5 percent decline in Avio’s backlog to 632,000,000 EUR.
Avio projects net income between 16 million and 19,000,000 EUR for 2020 on revenues of 325 million to 345,000,000 EUR.
Avio’s P120C booster serves as the first stage of Vega C and as a strap-on booster for Ariane 6, which ArianeGroup is producing.
Avio plans three Vega launches in 2021 and a mid-2021 debut of Vega C.
Avio will not launch the Vega C rocket until at least the middle of 2021.
Avio is working to finalize the pending ESA contracts and expects a backlog between 650 million and 680,000,000 EUR by the end of 2020.
Avio originally anticipated three Vega launches in 2020 plus a Vega C launch at the end of 2020 or in early 2021.
Avio reported net income of 8,400,000 EUR for the first half of 2020.
Arianespace and Avio were ready to launch Vega in June 2020 but upper-level winds delayed the mission into August 2020.
Avio will keep a team of launch personnel in French Guiana from May through August to try to complete three Vega launches 2020.
The team sent by Avio to the Guiana Space Center is subject to a 14-day quarantine implemented by the French space agency CNES before beginning launch activities.
After two Vega launches, Avio will decide whether to launch Vega C next or conduct another Vega launch based on scheduling and urgency.
The European Space Agency’s 2019 ministerial conference allocated 490,000,000 EUR toward Avio programs.
Avio expects to receive the second tranche of the Ariane 6 booster production order either in 2020 or 2021.
Avio implemented safety procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic including measuring employee temperatures, sanitizing work areas between shifts, and reducing floor occupancy to less than 50% of a regular full-time shift.
Avio is developing Vega E, a variant planned for around 2025 that would replace Vega C’s third and fourth stages with a single liquid-oxygen and methane-powered stage and increase lift capacity to 2,800 kg.