An Avio-built Vega C rocket was launched from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana on 29 April, successfully delivering the European Space Agency’s Biomass to orbit.
The 35-metre-tall Vega C rocket was launched from the ELV launch pad at 11:15 CET. Approximately 57 minutes after liftoff, the 1,131-kilogram Biomass satellite was deployed into Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 666 kilometres. In a 29 April ESA update, the agency confirmed that it had received the all-important first signal from Biomass, relayed via a ground station in Antarctica.
While the satellite has been successfully deployed into its target orbit and initial communications established, a critical phase of the satellite’s commissioning is still to come. This phase involves a series of manoeuvres necessary to deploy the satellite’s 12-metre-wide mesh reflector, which is supported by a 7.5-metre-long boom.
The boom and mesh deployment phase is carried out in stages. The boom will be deployed over three stages, each lasting approximately seven minutes. Once the boom is fully extended, the wire mesh antenna will be deployed, a process that will take around 20 minutes. To allow time for teams to verify each step, only one stage will be completed per day.
What is Biomass?
In March 2013, Biomass was selected as ESA’s seventh Earth Explorer Mission, which are missions designed to address key scientific questions about the Earth system using innovative satellite technology. After ESA Member States gave the green light for the mission’s full implementation in 2015, ESA awarded the €229 million contract to build Biomass to Airbus Defence and Space UK.
Biomass is designed to measure the amount of carbon stored in the world’s forests. Equipped with the first spaceborne P-band synthetic aperture radar, Biomass can penetrate dense forest canopies to assess the woody parts of trees where most carbon is held. Over its planned 5.5-year mission, the satellite will systematically map forest biomass and track changes in forest structure, providing critical information on the carbon stocks and dynamics that underpin the global climate system.
Vega C continues its comeback
In December 2022, the first commercial flight of the newly introduced Vega C rocket failed. The failure was traced to the material used in the manufacture of the Zefiro 40 second stage’s nozzle insert. However, a subsequent ground test with a new material also failed, prompting a full redesign of the motor. After two successful ground tests following the redesign, Vega C successfully returned to flight in December 2024. With the launch of Biomass, Vega C has maintained a 100% success rate since its return to flight.
