Vega C's third 2026 launch slips toward Christmas
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Avio says the third Vega C launch of 2026 has slipped toward Christmas Day, several weeks later than planned. The delay comes from customer satellites that arrived late, according to European Spaceflight.
Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo said this on the company's third-quarter earnings call on 11 November. In September he had said the mission was set for "the very beginning of December". By his latest account, the launch has moved by two to three weeks.
The rocket will carry six satellites for Italy's IRIDE Earth observation constellation. French space agency CNES published photos showing the Thales Alenia Space satellites reached French Guiana on 9 November, and the Guiana Space Centre the next day.
This is not the first slip of its kind this year. Avio has flown two Vega C launches in 2026, the latest on 15 September, which carried ESA's FLEX satellite. In September, Ranzo said the company could have flown more than three Vega C launches this year, and blamed one late satellite.
Why it matters: Vega C is one of Europe's own rockets, and Avio says it wants to fly more often. Each late payload pushes the calendar back.
What do you think: should a launch company wait for late customer satellites, or fly on the date it has set?
Sources: European Spaceflight