[Satellite TODAY 05-07-13] Arianespace successfully launched the second Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Center (GSC) on Monday, May 6 at 11:06 p.m. local time. With this launch, the company correctly placed the Proba-V, VNREDSat-1 and ESTCube-1 satellites in orbit.

 

    The Proba-V (Project for On-Board Autonomy and Vegetation), built by QinetiQ Space Belgium, is the fourth satellite in the Proba series developed by ESA, and is designed to support the development of new space technologies.

 

    The VNREDSat-1A Earth observation satellite, launched for the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, will monitor the impact of climate change, take measurements used to generate predictions that will help anticipate natural disasters, and enable Vietnam to optimize the management of its natural resources. VNREDSat-1 was built by Astrium, which supplied the complete satellite and ground receiving system to Vietnam.

 

    ESTCube-1 is the first Estonian satellite, designed and built in Estonia by a team of students at the National University of Tartu, under the supervision of the Estonian Space Office. This nanosatellite’s main mission is to measure the loads that could be applied to electric solar sails.