Pivdenne Design Bureau and Pivdenmash production amalgamation (both based in Dnipropetrovsk) and the Italian-based AvioSpA have signed a contract for the supply of rocket engines for the fourth stage of the new European Vega launch vehicle.
According to him, the contract is designed for three years, with the right to prolong it, a source familiar with the details of the Ukrainian-European cooperation on the Vega program told Interfax-Ukraine. It envisages the production and supply of five rocket engines to the European partners. The delivery of the first serial engine to the customer is scheduled for 2012.
The source said that the first engine produced in Ukraine was supplied to the customer in early 2011. "As you know, the European Space Agency previously confirmed its order for five Vega carrier rockets. A trial launch of a Vega rocket from the Kourou spaceport is scheduled for the start of 2012," the source said.
A contract to design and supply a rocket engine for the new European Vega launch vehicle was signed by Pivdenne Design Bureau, Pivdenmash and Italian Avio SpA in February 2004.
Italy, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland are taking part in the Vega program. Italy, via the Italian Space Agency, finances 65% of the program.
The Vega light rocket is designed to put satellites of up to 1,200 kilograms to solar synchronous orbits of 1,200 kilometers, or satellites of up to 1,500 kilograms into polar orbits of 700 kilometers. The rocket has three solid fuel stages and one liquid fuel stage. It is 30 meters tall and has a takeoff weight of 130 tonnes.
The Vega rocket will be launched from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.
