With the recent signature of two major contracts in the frame of the European VEGA programme, SPACEBEL extends its participation in the launchers business.

Named after the second brightest star in the northern hemisphere, the new rocket for small and medium scientific or earth observation satellites is currently being developed under the supervision of the European Space Agency (ESA). Italy is the leading contributor to the VEGA programme along with France, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. The first VEGA launch is planned for early 2011 from the French Guiana Space Centre. Unlike most small launchers, VEGA will be able to place multiple payloads into orbit.

SPACEBEL has been selected by the VEGA Prime Contractor ELV in Rome (Italy) to bring its expertise to support ELV in the development of the second source on-board computer software meant to pilot the launch vehicle and in the VEGA guidance, navigation and control software engineering activities.
Finally, SPACEBEL is in charge of the simulation software that will test and validate the various functions of the on-board software.