The light launch vehicle Vega was launched 18 times from the Kourou cosmodrome on the Atlantic coast of French Guiana. Ukrainian engineers took part in its creation. The block of the main engine RD-843, which is used in the propulsion system of the 4th stage of the Vega PH, was developed by the Yuzhnoye design bureau and is serially produced by the Yuzhny machine-building plant. A feature of the rocket engine — RD-843 is the possibility of multiple launching during the flight — up to 5 starts, which ensures the deployment of satellites in different orbits.
This time, in the role of the main load, ordered by Airbus Defense and Space, the Vega launch vehicle launched the Pléiades Neo 4 spacecraft weighing approximately 920 kg into orbit. It is the second of four satellites that, once the constellation is fully deployed (Pléiades Neo 3, 4, 5, 6), will be able to travel over any part of the globe twice a day and will provide commercial and institutional consumers with high-resolution images. It allows you to see objects up to 30 cm in size on Earth. In addition, four additional auxiliary payloads were launched into low-Earth orbit: small satellites — RADCUBE, SUNSTORM, LEDSAT cube-sats commissioned by the European Space Agency, and BRO-4 cube-sats commissioned by the startup Unseenlabs.
