Watch the Launch

Watch the Launch

Additional Media

FLEX and Sentinel-3C launch (Official broadcast)

ESA’s FLEX satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite are set to launch on 15 September at 03:21 CEST (14 September at 22:21 local time). Watch the launch programme live from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, with streaming starting at 02:50 CEST and continuing until 05:36 CEST. FLEX will provide new …

Vega C launches Sentinel-3C & FLEX

Launch: 9:21:07 PM Eastern Mission overview: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/09/vega-c-launch-sentinel-3c-flex/ ⚡ Become a member of NASASpaceflight's channel for exclusive discord access, fast turnaround clips, and other exclusive benefits. Your support helps us continue our 24/7 coverage. ⚡ 🔍 If you are interested in using footage captured by this stream, please review our content …

LAUNCH KIT VV30

Launch Kit VV30

Sentinel-3C & FLEX

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Mission: Earth Science

Sun-Synchronous Orbit Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana VV30

Sentinel-3C is the third satellite in the Sentinel-3 constellation, which provides high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and land services. The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) satellite is a part of ESA's Earth Explorer program. The satellite will map vegetation fluorescence to quantify photosynthetic activity.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Sept. 15, 2026, 3:23 a.m.

Both satellites successfully deployed and signals acquired from both.


Cosmic_Penguin • Sept. 15, 2026, 1:21 a.m.

Liftoff.


LL2 • Sept. 15, 2026, 12:47 a.m.

Official Webcast by Avio SpA has started


Cosmic_Penguin • July 30, 2026, 2:09 p.m.

GO for launch on September 15 UTC.


Nosu • June 25, 2026, 12:08 p.m.

NET September 11


Vega-C

Family:
Configuration:

Vega-C is a single-body rocket nearly 35 m high with that weighs 210 tonnes on the launch pad. As with Vega, its main elements are three solid-propellant stages, an upper stage powered by a reignitable liquid-propellant engine and a payload fairing. Vega-C's P120C first stage replaces Vega’s smaller P80 to provide a significant increase in thrust at liftoff. It is also used as boosters (2 or 4) for the Ariane 6 rocket.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    4
  • Length
    34.8 m
  • Diameter
    3.0 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    3.3 m
  • Launch Mass
    210.0 T
  • Thrust
    2974.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Vega-C
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Vega-C
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $48000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    3300.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    2230.0 kg

Avio S.p.A

Avio S.p.A

(Avio)

CEO: Giulio Ranzo Founded: 1908 Successes: 2 Failures: 0 Pending: 23

Agency Type:

Avio S.p.A. is an Italian company operating in the aerospace sector with its head office in Colleferro near Rome, Italy. Founded in 1908, it is present in Italy and abroad with different commercial offices and 10 production sites.

INFO WIKI
NASASpaceflight

Launch Preview: Nine orbital launches scheduled from sites around the world

Nine orbital launches are scheduled worldwide this week. Two Falcon 9s are expected to deliver… The post Launch Preview: Nine orbital launches scheduled from sites around the world appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Avio to launch spacecraft to monitor plant health and ocean conditions

The mission, with the shorthand VV30, is the second launch of a Vega-C rocket managed solely by Avio without Arianespace. Liftoff from Ensemble de Lancement Vega at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana is scheduled for 10:21 p.m. local time…

ESA

FLEX and Sentinel-3C launched

The European Space Agency’s FLEX Earth Explorer satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite have been launched together aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, marking a new milestone in Europe’s Earth Obser…

Spaceflight Now

Avio launches pair of climate monitoring European spacecraft to study plants, oceans and atmospheric changes

The mission, with the shorthand VV30, is the second launch of a Vega-C rocket managed solely by Avio without Arianespace. Liftoff from Ensemble de Lancement Vega at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana happened at 10:21 p.m. local time (9:2…

ESA

Relive the launch of FLEX and Sentinel-3C

Watch the full replay of the launch of ESA’s state-of-the-art FLEX Earth Explorer satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite. Both were launched together aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, marking a ne…

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV)


Electron
Deployed
6 hours, 12 minutes ago
Owl By The Dozen (StriX Launch 12)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
1 day, 16 hours ago
Glonass-K1 No. 20 (?)
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Satellite serial number and Cosmos designation not confirmed. Glonass-K are the third generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellite n…


Kuaizhou 11
Success
2 days, 6 hours ago
SpaceTY-51 & 52
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2 Earth observation radar satellites built by the Chinese satellite manufacturer SpaceTY.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 8 hours ago
USSF-259
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

USSF-259 is a classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield …


Long March 12
Success
2 days, 9 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 25
Commercial LC-2 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
2 days, 20 hours ago
Progress MS-35 (96P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Gravity-1
Success
3 days, 11 hours ago
SpaceSail Polar Group #16
Yellow Sea (launch location 5) - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies with …


Zhuque-2E Block 2
Success
4 days, 3 hours ago
SpaceSail Polar Group #15
Launch Area 96A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

10 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies with…


Vega-C
Success
4 days, 8 hours ago
Sentinel-3C & FLEX
Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) - Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Sentinel-3C is the third satellite in the Sentinel-3 constellation, which provides high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and lan…


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 14 hours ago
O3b mPower 11-13
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

3 high-throughput communications satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) built by Boeing and operated by SES.