Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël declined to comment when asked what solution Avio had employed to replace a pair of out-of-production propellant tanks for the final Vega rocket launch.
In December 2023, European Spaceflight reported that Avio had lost two of four propellant tanks that were to be used aboard the fourth stage of the final Vega rocket. The tanks were later found in a landfill destroyed.
At the time, Avio was exploring two possible solutions to replace the tanks, which were no longer being produced in anticipation of the rocket’s retirement. The first solution was to utilize tanks that had been used during the rocket’s qualification phase before its maiden flight in 2012. The second was to modify the stage to use elements of a Vega C AVUM+ upper stage, a solution that became known as the Frankenstage.
In early July 2024, Avio announced that it had completed production of the upper stage for the final Vega flight and that it had begun its journey to the launch site in French Guiana. Towards the end of August, the stage was lifted and stacked atop the rocket’s third stage in preparation for the rocket’s swan song. What solution was employed to complete the manufacture of the stage is, however, not known.
During a 29 August French press briefing for the final flight of Vega, Daniel Chrétien of Futura Science asked Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël for more information about how the upper stage was saved. The CEO’s response was dismissive at best.
“No, I have no comment to make on what you have heard,” said Israël. “And the winds will be favorable for this Vega launcher, so everything will go very well. The integration operations of the launcher went perfectly well. We are now in the final phase, and we will check one last time that the launcher is fit for flight.”
The final flight of Vega will carry the Sentinel-2C Earth observation satellite for the European Space Agency on behalf of the European Commission. The rocket is expected to lift off from the Guiana Space Centre at 22:50 local time on 3 September (03:50 CEST on 4 September).
