LARES 2

retired

Technology DemonstrationMEOCOSPAR 2022-080ALaunched 7/13/2022

Admin Edit

Mission & Launch

Launch Mission: LARES 2 Mission
Launch Vehicle: Vega C
Launch Date: 7/13/2022
Last Contact: 7/14/2022

Orbit & Mass

Orbit Class: MEO
Altitude: 5,888.5 km
Inclination: 70.16 deg
Dry Mass: 295 kg
Total Mass: 295 kg

Payload Classification

Mission Type: Technology Demonstration
Payload Category: TECH
Payload Class: C

Organizations

Operator: Italian Space Agency (ASI)
Manufacturer: OHB

Registry

COSPAR ID: 2022-080A
UN Registration: ST/SG/SER.E/1228

Track

Mentions

5

All verified mentions of this spacecraft in source documents.

Six cubesats were deployed from Vega C about 45 minutes after LARES-2 separation.

PlanGeneralValue 3.5Jul 13, 2022Vega C lifts off on maiden flight

LARES-2 was placed in an inclined orbit at an altitude of 5,893 km to test Einstein’s theory of General Relativity.

CapabilityPlanGeneralValue 3.0Jul 13, 2022Vega C lifts off on maiden flight

The inaugural Vega-C flight launched the LARES 2 Laser Relativity satellite built by OHB Italia for the Italian space agency ASI.

RelationshipsPlanCapabilityValue 4.0Jul 12, 2022Topping off the new Vega-C rocket on its maiden flight is a freshly-designed fairing developed by Beyond Gravity

Arianespace and Avio will launch Vega C for the first time in March 2020, sending Lares-2 into a 6,000-kilometer orbit at an inclination of 75 degrees.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0May 10, 2019Avio gets ESA assurance for transition missions from Vega to Vega C

The Italian Space Agency decided years earlier to launch the science satellite Lares-2 on the first Vega C flight.

PlanValue 3.8May 10, 2019Avio gets ESA assurance for transition missions from Vega to Vega C