Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace, declined to comment when asked what solution Avio used to replace two discontinued fuel tanks for the last launch of the Vega rocket.
In December 2023, European Spaceflight reported that Avio had lost two of four fuel tanks that were to be used on board the fourth stage of the final Vega rocket. The tanks were later found destroyed in a landfill.
At the time, Avio was studying two possible solutions to replace the tanks that were no longer being produced in anticipation of the rocket's retirement. The first solution was to use tanks that had been used during the rocket's qualification phase before its maiden flight in 2012. The second was to modify the stage to use elements of a Vega C AVUM+ upper stage, a solution that became known as Frankenstage.
In early July 2024, Avio announced that production of the upper stage for the final Vega flight had been completed and that it had begun its journey to the launch site in French Guiana. Towards the end of August, the stage was lifted and placed on the rocket's third stage to prepare for the rocket's swan song. However, it is not known which solution was used to complete the stage.
During a French press conference on Vega's final flight on August 29, Daniel Chrétien of Futura Science asked Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël for more information on the rescue of the upper stage. The CEO's response was dismissive at best.
“No, I have no comment to make on what you have heard,” Israel said. “And the winds will be favorable for this Vega launch vehicle, so everything will go very well. The integration work of the launch vehicle went perfectly. We are now in the final phase and will do one last check to see if the launch vehicle is ready to fly.”
Vega's final flight will carry the Sentinel-2C Earth observation satellite for the European Space Agency on behalf of the European Commission. The rocket is scheduled to lift off from the space center in Guiana at 22:50 local time on 3 September (03:50 CEST on 4 September).
