European Space Agency prepares for second Vega launch

BBC : The European Space Agency’s first launch of its new Vega rocket occurred in February 2012 and was a success: Nine small satellites were placed into low Earth orbit. The rocket’s next launch is scheduled to take off from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana on 4 May at 2:06 GMT. Vega, which is a four-stage rocket capable of carrying up to 2500 kg, will put three more spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The first is PROBA-V , an ESA satellite that will measure land cover and vegetation changes. The second is a Vietnamese Earth-observing satellite, Vega’s first paid payload. The last is Estonia’s first satellite, a CubeSat developed by students at the University of Tartu. Vega’s three lower stages use solid fuel propellant. The final stage burns liquid fuel, which allows the rocket engine to start and stop multiple times so that the vehicle can place each of its payload satellites in a different orbit.