ASI Official Says Vega Still Within Cost Limits

摘要

Development of Europe's Italian-led Vega small-satellite launcher has remained within its allowed cost limits despite the vehicle's slower-than-expected ground qualification and the delay, to 2011, of its inaugural flight, according to Arturo De Lillis, head of the launcher unit of the Italian Space Agency (ASI).rnItaly is funding the majority of Vega's development. ELV, a joint venture between Avio of Italy and ASI, is prime contractor for the vehicle, which is designed to place a 1,500-kilogram science or Earth observation satellite into a 700-kilometer polar low Earth orbit.