Vega rocket with Ukrainian engine launched into space

22.03.2019 16:14

Ukrinform

A European Vega rocket with a Ukrainian engine carried a new Earth-observation satellite PRISMA into orbit for the Italian Space Agency, lighting up the nighttime sky over its French Guiana launch site.

According to the press release of the Pivdenne (Yuzhnoye) Design Bureau, the satellite aboard Vega LV lifted off the European spaceport of Kourou (French Guiana) at 03:50 on March 22, 2019. This was the fourteenth launch under the Vega program and the first in 2019.

PRISMA spacecraft with 879 kg weight is a small satellite of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). PRISMA is designed to provide information about environmental monitoring, resources management, pollution and crop health. The satellite includes a medium resolution camera that can view across all visual wavelengths, as well as a hyperspectral imager that can capture a wider range of wavelengths between 400 and 2500 nanometers.

The satellite will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit, meaning that it circles the Earth in such a way that the sun is always in the same position as the satellite takes pictures of the planet below.