Delivered Into Sun-Synchronous Orbit Less Than An Hour After Launch

Arianespace has launched a Vega rocket to deliver an Earth observation satellite into orbit for the Kingdom of Morocco. Liftoff of Vega’s 11th mission from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana came at 01:42 GMT on November 8.

With a mass at liftoff of 2,500 pounds, Mohammed VI-A was maneuvered into its target Sun-synchronous orbit about 55 minutes into the mission after a series of burns of Vega’s upper stage.

Complying with debris regulations to help keep space clean, Vega’s upper stage fired a final time to burn up high in the atmosphere over the ocean.

Vega is a 100-foot-high, four-stage vehicle designed to accommodate small scientific and Earth observation payloads of 660–5,500 pounds, depending on the orbit.

The Mohammed VI is an Earth observation satellite built for the Kingdom of Morocco by Thales Alenia Space as system prime contractor and Airbus as co-prime.

The three-axis stabilized satellite will be in particular used for mapping and land surveying activities, regional development, agricultural monitoring, the prevention and management of natural disasters, monitoring changes in the environment and desertification, as well as border and coastal surveillance.

(Image provided with ESA news release)

FMI: www.esa.int