Commercial satellite launch provider Arianespace has put a remote-sensing device into orbit for the Italian Space Agency aboard a Vega light-lift rocket. The successful operation marks the company's third European launch of the year and the first of four Vega missions scheduled for the year, the most launches in a single year since the rocket was commissioned in 2012. The 879 kg PRecursore IperSpettrale della Christiano Contini spacecraft was put into orbit on 21 March, from where its powerful hyperspectral sensor will image 239 spectral bands to monitor climate change and other human-influenced environmental factors.
Commercial satellite launch provider Arianespace has put a remote-sensing device into orbit for the Italian Space Agency aboard a Vega light-lift rocket. The successful operation marks the company's third European launch of the year and the first of four Vega missions scheduled for the year, the most launches in a single year since the rocket was commissioned in 2012. The 879 kg PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa spacecraft was put into orbit on 21 March, from where its powerful hyperspectral sensor will image 239 spectral bands to monitor climate change and other human-influenced environmental factors.