European Space Agency Delays Vega Rocket Launches Due To Tank Problems

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

JAKARTA - The European Space Agency (ESA) held a Council meeting on Thursday, December 14. From the results of the meeting, the council agreed to postpone the launch of the Vega rocket.

Supposedly, this rocket should be launched in spring next year. However, due to problems with the tank for the final stages of AVUM, Vega's top module, the launch of Vega's rocket has been delayed until next September.

Previously, two of the four AVUM tanks were reported missing by ESA. After a long search, these two tanks were finally found in early December in a state of destruction at a landfill.

Although Avio still doesn't know how the two tanks got in there, they have communicated with ESA. Both still have to find a solution for Vega's delayed flight.

"Avio has confirmed to ESA that there is a problem with the tank for Vega's last flight," said ESA Director of Space Transport Toni Tolker-Nielsen, quoted fromSpacenews.

Toni said that Vega's decision to postpone the launch had been adjusted to a solution from Avio. The company had proposed the use of tanks that had been made since a decade ago, but ESA did not like the solution.

After all, the two tanks have not been used for a long time, so the potential for failure at the launch is much greater. Seeing the magnitude of this risk, ESA decided to choose a second option.

In September, the Vega Rocket will launch with a tank from the AVUM+ stage which is part of the Vega C rocket. This tank will go through several structural modifications to be adapted to the original Vega rocket.