Arianespace Flight VV18 – Pléiades Neo 3 / NorSat-3 / 4 cubesats (EN)

On Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 10:50 pm local time (01:50 UTC on Thursday, April 29), Arianespace’s first Vega mission of the year will lift off from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, with the optical observation satellite Pleiades Neo 3. The first of four satellites in an advanced Earth observation constellation, Pleiades Neo 3 was wholly funded and manufactured by its operator, Airbus. The 18th mission of Europe’s Vega light launcher will also orbit an observation microsatellite for the Norwegian space agency, Norsat-3, plus four cubesats for the operators Eutelsat, NanoAvionics/Aurora Insight and Spire. These small satellites will be carried as auxiliary payloads on the innovative Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) deployment system. The SSMS rideshare service, developed with the support of the European space industry, was first deployed by Arianespace in September 2020. Funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), Arianespace’s SSMS service will soon be joined by the Multi