Monday, 13 February 2012 at 10:00 Universal time saw the successful launch of the first Vega by the European Space Agency (ESA), putting 2 scientific satellites and 7 picosatellites into orbit. Thanks to this historic success, Arianespace now has the largest range of commercial launch services. Vega, the new European launcher Vega has been designed to launch payloads of up to 1 500 kg at an altitude of 700 km. This means that Europe now has a new vehicle to launch all its scientific and