science

Vega flight VV17

Vega flight VV17 is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Vega flight VV17 rather than just read about it. In short: Vega flight VV17 was the 17th launch of the Vega rocket. The rocket failed after launch and the mission was lost.

Key takeaways

Vega flight VV17 belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Vega flight VV17 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Vega flight VV17 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Vega flight VV17 was the 17th launch of the Vega rocket. The rocket failed after launch and the mission was lost. It was the second failure of the Vega rocket, after that of VV15 in 2019.

Payload The dual payload consisted of the SEOSat-Ingenio and TARANIS satellites. With their adapters and dispensers, the total mass was approximately 1,192 kilograms (2,628 lb).

SEOSat-Ingenio

SEOSat-Ingenio, with a launch mass of about 750 kg (1,650 lb) and a design lifetime of 7 years, was in the upper position. It was planned to be injected 54 minutes after launch into its target sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 670 km (semi-major axis of about 7050 km) and mean local time of the descending node approximately equal to 10:30. SEOSat-Ingenio would have been ESA's 79th and Airbus's 128th satellite launched by Arianespace.

TARANIS

TARANIS, with a launch mass of about 175 kg (386 lb) and a design lifetime of 2 to 4 years, was in the lower position. It was planned to be injected 1 hour and 42 minutes after launch into its target sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 676 km and mean local time of the descending node also approximately equal to 10:30. TARANIS would have been CNES's 18th satellite (its 7th built in-house) launched by Arianespace.

Flight The flight was launched from the ELV launch pad at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana on 17 November 2020 at 01:52:20 UTC (16 November 2020 at 22:52:20 local time).

Launch failure The flight was planned to deploy the satellites into 2 very slightly different sun-synchronous orbits at roughly 675 km (starting 54 minutes until 102 minutes after liftoff), before the upper stage would have re-ignited to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. However, at twenty minutes and thirty seconds into the flight, the range operations manager reported that the rocket's trajectory was degrading. The rocket failed after launch and the mission was lost. The launcher fell in a completely uninhabited area close to the drop zone planned for the Zefiro 9 stage. The cause was human error making the mission a failure. This was the Vega rocket's second failure in its last three missions.

Inquiry commission Initial investigations, conducted with the available data, concluded a problem related to the integration of the fourth-stage AVUM (Attitude and Vernier Upper Module) thrust vector control system is the most likely cause of the loss of control of the launcher. In accordance with their standard protocols, Arianespace and the European Space Agency (ESA) will set up an independent Inquiry Commission jointly chaired by Daniel Neuenschwander, Director of Space Transport at ESA, and Stéphane Israël, Arianespace Chief Executive Officer (CEO), on 18 November 2020. The Commission will provide detailed evidence to explain why steps were not taken to identify and correct the integration error. The Commission will formulate a road map for the Vega's return to flight under conditions of complete reliability. Arianespace and ESA will jointly present the findings of this commission. During assembly, it is believed by Commission members that two cables carrying control signals to the thrust vectoring actuators on the AVUM's RD-843 engine were crossed. With the guidance signals going to the wrong actuators, the vehicle was uncontrollable and began to tumble. As a result, the satellites did not achieve orbital velocity. The rocket reentered the Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated during reentry. On 17 December 2020, the Independent Enquiry Commission announced its conclusions. The Commission confirmed the preliminary findings that the two control signal cables on the AVUM's RD-843 engine were incorrectly routed. The IEC further concluded that the improper routing was the result of misleading instructions in the integration procedure that were not detected by personnel "due to some inconsistencies between specific requirements and prescribed controls."

Aftermath Arianespace expected to resume Vega flights by the end of March 2021. The Vega rocket returned to flight on 28 April 2021, launching the Pleiades Neo 3 imaging satellite for Airbus Defence and Space.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vega flight VV17

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vega flight VV17 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Vega flight VV17 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Vega flight VV17 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Vega flight VV17

In research: Vega flight VV17 appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Vega flight VV17 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Vega flight VV17 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2020 in French Guiana, Rocket launches in 2020, Satellite launch failures, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vega flight VV17 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Vega flight VV17 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Vega flight VV17 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Vega flight VV17 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vega flight VV17 in simple terms?

Vega flight VV17 was the 17th launch of the Vega rocket. The rocket failed after launch and the mission was lost.

Why does Vega flight VV17 matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Vega flight VV17?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Vega flight VV17.