The 17th successful launch of the European lightweight rocket Vega took place from Kourou, French Guiana on August 17, 2021 at 04:47 Kiev time.

As a primary payload Vega rocket orbited spacecraft Pléiades Neo 4 weighing around 920 kg for Airbus Defence and Space as an operator. It is second of four satellites, which after deployment of the whole constellation (Pléiades Neo 3, 4, 5, 6) will be able to revisit any point on Earth at least twice a day and provide commercial and institutional customers with images of very high-resolution (30 cm).

Four auxiliary cubesats have been orbited alongside – RADCUBE, SUNSTORM, LEDSAT for the ESA and cubesat BRO-4 for the start-up Unseenlabs.

Yuzhnoye SDO developed and PA Yuzhmash serially manufactures the
RD-843 main engine unit, which is integrated into the Stage 4 liquid-propellant propulsion system of the Vega rocket.

Specific feature of the RD-843 main engine unit is its capability of multiple burns in flight (up to 5 burns) in order to deploy satellites into different orbits. Currently improvement of the engine performances is ongoing to enhance the payload capability range.

Total of 19 Vega missions took place since 2012.