Blastoff! Vega-C rocket launches advanced Earth-observation satellite for South Korea
Video from the channel VideoFromSpace about Vega-C, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 17:20. Language: English. Video type: Livestream.
What is being broadcast
Excerpt from the official broadcast of the launch of a Vega-C carrying the South Korean Earth observation satellite KOMPSAT-7 from the Guiana Space Centre. Two commentators follow the flight from liftoff to the first shutdown of the upper stage and explain each phase with live footage, telemetry and animations.
Key moments
Liftoff is powered by the first solid stage, the P120C, with about 4,300 kN of thrust. After its separation, the second stage, Zefiro 40, and the third, Zefiro 9, ignite in succession. On leaving the dense layers of the atmosphere, the payload fairing is jettisoned and the satellite becomes visible. The commentators clarify that the computer-generated images show the expected behaviour, not actual telemetry. The AVUM+ upper stage then ignites, with a first burn of about nine and a half minutes. Meanwhile, the tracking stations in Bermuda and Gatineau (Canada) receive the rocket's signal and relay it to the spaceport's telemetry team.
Outcome
The flight proceeds nominally throughout. The broadcast ends with the first shutdown of the AVUM+, at about 354 km altitude and 7.78 km/s. A second burn was still needed to reach the sun-synchronous injection orbit, at 576 km.