ESA’s new Vega-C rocket has successfully performed its inaugural flight on 13 July, at 16:13 Romanian local time. The launch caps a multi-year effort by ESA, prime contractor Avio and industrial partners in 13 ESA Member States to build on the heritage of its predecessor, Vega. Romania is one of the states contributing to Vega-C. Romanian entities carried out aerodynamic and acoustic tests, reviews and validations of the Vega-C navigation systems, as well as the validation of certain Space Rider systems, a space vehicle that will be launched on a Vega-C. A testing bench for the Vega-E liquid oxygen turbopump is also being developed.

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