Vega Rocket Could Fail To Launch Due To Damaged Procuring Tank

Illustration of Vega's launch with Avio's tank (photo: dock. Avio)

JAKARTA The last launch of Vega's rocket belonging to the European Space Agency (ESA) does not seem to have gone smoothly. The reason is, two tanks from the fourth stage of Vega AVUM were badly damaged.

Initially, two of Vega's four tanks for the last stage were reported missing by ESA. This important component makes Avio, Vega's launch company, having difficulty finding alternative solutions.

After being missing for several months, these two tanks were finally found by Avio. According to aSpace explored report, this tank was found in a landfill and has been destroyed so it cannot be reused.

Avio doesn't know how the tank containing hypergolic propellants ended up in a garbage dump. They can only say that these tanks disappeared after being renovated in storage.

Although these two tanks were declared damaged, Avio is still trying to launch Vega rockets in early 2024. It is planned that they will use two tanks tested 10 years ago and two new tanks that are still stored safe.

Given that the other two tanks have not been used for a long time, it is possible that Vega's launch did not go well. The reason is, Avio does not know if the tank is functioning and meets the launch requirements.

Another plan that Avio is preparing is to replace Vega's final stages with the new AVUM+ stages that Vega C has used. Although it seems more recent, there is no guarantee this launch will work.

Vega C's second launch, the previous version of Vega's rocket, failed completely due to problems with the second phase of the engine. Therefore, two solutions from Avio do not provide definite guarantees from next year's launch.