European Space AgencyVegaAriane Launch Area 1 (ELV), Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Multipayload mission, 9 satellites

Launched

February 13, 2012

Launch Successful

Summary

LARES (Vega VV01) launched on an European Space Agency Vega from Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV), Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana on February 13, 2012. It was European Space Agency's 5th launch, 1st this year and humanity's 5,196th orbital launch attempt. It was the 1st Vega flight. The payload was bound for low Earth orbit (LEO). LARES, one of 10 catalogued objects, reached a 281 × 1,435 km orbit inclined 69.5°. 10 objects from this launch are catalogued, all of them payloads.

Watch: Vega Launch on Mission VV01 - First Flight - February 13, 2012Spaceflight101
Vehicle: Vega · European Space Agency
Booster: No booster details on record.
Mission: Test Flight · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Milestone: 1st Vega flightEuropean Space Agency's 5th launch1st this yearhumanity's 5,196th orbital launch attempt6th orbital launch attempt this year

Flight preview

Orbit: as tracked

69.5°Inclination

281 × 1435 kmPerigee × apogeefrom mean elements

102.0 minPeriodfrom mean elements

238.8°Ascending node

5359 d agoElement epoch2012-02-13 11:48 UTC · stale

LARES · NORAD 38077 · 2012-006 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 10 objects

Show the numbers

Object: TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
Object ID: 2012-006A
Epoch: 2012-02-13 11:48:01 UTC
Mean motion: 14.12426963 rev/day
Eccentricity: 0.0797863
Inclination: 69.5109°
Ascending node: 238.7998°
Arg. of perigee: 46.5524°
Mean anomaly: 319.9217°
Element set: 999
Rev at epoch: 0
B*: 0

Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: LEO. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile.

Catalogued objects

10 catalogued: 10 payloads; 1 still in orbit

LARES · NORAD 38077 · in orbit
ALMASat · NORAD 38078 · re-entered April 25, 2020
e-st@r · NORAD 38079 · re-entered January 16, 2015
Goliat · NORAD 38080 · re-entered December 31, 2014
MagyarSat-OSCAR-72 · NORAD 38081 · re-entered January 9, 2015
XaTcobeo · NORAD 38082 · re-entered August 31, 2014
PW-Sat 1 · NORAD 38083 · re-entered October 28, 2014
ROBUSTA · NORAD 38084 · re-entered January 27, 2015
UNICubeSat GG · NORAD 38085 · re-entered February 16, 2015
AVUM VV01/LARES A&H/SS · NORAD 38086 · re-entered November 2, 2016

Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org

About this launch

The qualification flight of Europe's Vega launcher carried the Italian LARES laser-ranging sphere for relativity research to a 1,450 km orbit, plus ALMASat-1 and seven European university CubeSats released into a lower elliptical orbit.

Pad

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV), Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

27th launch from Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV), 1st this year · 216th from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

56 launches from this pad · 336 from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

about 23 years after the previous launch from this pad

All launches from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana Open in maps

Questions

When did LARES (Vega VV01) launch?

LARES (Vega VV01) launched on February 13, 2012. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.

Where can I watch LARES (Vega VV01)?

Coverage: Vega Launch on Mission VV01 - First Flight - February 13, 2012. Watch the replay

What rocket launched LARES (Vega VV01)?

Vega, flown by European Space Agency. Vega spec sheet

Where did LARES (Vega VV01) launch from?

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV), Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana.

What orbit did LARES (Vega VV01) reach?

LARES, one of 10 catalogued objects, reached a 281 × 1,435 km orbit inclined 69.5°.

How many satellites did LARES (Vega VV01) launch?

10 payloads from this launch are catalogued, 1 of them still in orbit (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).