Europe’s Vega-C rocket return boosts Italy’s space leadership

Rome: Italy celebrates the successful launch of Sentinel-1C aboard the Vega-C rocket, marking a milestone for the nation’s space industry and European space capabilities. The mission underscores Italy’s leadership in aerospace innovation and its pivotal role in securing Europe’s independent access to space

Three, two, one, liftoff. The third Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite, Sentinel-1C, was successfully launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday.

This mission ushers in a new era for Earth observation, offering high-resolution radar imagery to monitor environmental changes and expanding capabilities for tracking maritime traffic.

Made in Italy. The Vega-C rocket, built by the Italian aerospace company Avio with support from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA), is a significant evolution of the Vega rocket family.

Designed for greater payload capacity and cost efficiency, Vega-C highlights Italy’s technological expertise.

The rocket deployed Sentinel-1C, a satellite developed at Thales Alenia Space’s Italian facilities, as part of the EU’s Copernicus Earth Observation programme.

Government reactions. This “success (…) underscores our Nation’s position as one of the few in the world with autonomous access to space—a capability that is strategic for our competitiveness and security”, said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Italy’s Minister of Business, Adolfo Urso, praised the launch as a landmark achievement for Italy’s leadership in the space sector

Italy is among the few nations globally, and alongside France the only one in Europe, with independent access to space.

The Meloni government has prioritised the space economy, allocating €7.3 billion to space projects through to2026.

A proposed national space law under parliamentary discussion aims to open the sector to private companies, with notable incentives for SMEs and startups.

Return to flight. This mission marks Vega-C’s return to flight, reinstating Europe’s access to space following a temporary hiatus.

With enhanced performance and competitiveness, Vega-C reaffirms its position as a cornerstone of Europe’s space strategy.

Minister Urso underscored the importance of aligning space and defence policies to secure Europe’s strategic autonomy, bolstering Italy’s standing as ESA’s third-largest contributor after Germany and France.

ASI President’s perspective. ASI President Teodoro Valente highlighted the launch’s importance for Europe’s space ambitions, describing it as “a step forward in regaining autonomous access to space, complementing the maiden flight of Ariane 6 last July.”

Valente stressed the challenges ahead, stating, “We still lag behind the capabilities of non-European actors. Today’s success motivates us to act urgently to close at least part of the gap, which until recently seemed insurmountable, and to ensure an in-house solution for strategic assets.”

Europe’s space sector continues to navigate obstacles as it competes with Elon Musk’s U.S.-based SpaceX.

In December 2022, the Vega programme was paused after a failure during the latest model’s second mission—its first commercial flight.

The anomaly occurred two-and-a-half minutes into launch, resulting in the loss of two Earth-imaging satellites.