Vega C flight VV22 failure (2022)
On December 20, 2022, the second Vega C lost its mission after a pressure drop in its Zefiro 40 second stage: Airbus's Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 satellites were destroyed. According to Airbus, it was an insured launch loss.
This Vega C failure is the loss of the European launcher and of the Airbus observation satellites it carried, shortly after liftoff. On December 20, 2022, about two and a half minutes after liftoff from Kourou, pressure in the Zefiro 40, the second stage of Vega C, collapsed. The rocket fell into the Atlantic with Pléiades Neo 5 and 6, the last two satellites of a four-unit Airbus Earth observation constellation. The independent inquiry commission, which reported on March 3, 2023, traced the loss to abnormal erosion of the carbon-carbon nozzle throat insert. On the insurance side the loss was clean: a launch policy, attaching at ignition, covers destruction of the payload, and the total loss was not in question. Airbus confirmed that both satellites were insured, without disclosing the insured value. Its lasting effect was on capacity, beyond one year's result. Vega C did not fly again until December 2024, Ariane 5 retired in July 2023 and Ariane 6 was not yet in service: Europe went months without autonomous access to orbit. Operators moved to American rockets. For the underwriter, a launcher coming out of a failure is priced case by case, on a flight history too short for statistics to hold. The failed second stage is a reminder that upper and intermediate stage failures remain the leading cause of launch losses, well ahead of the first stage.
An operator that had booked a Vega C in 2023 had to wait for return to flight or change launcher. In the second case its launch policy was renegotiated: new vehicle, new rate, and sometimes a new attachment date, since coverage follows the named launcher and not the satellite alone.
VV22 failure, Vega-C VV22, Pleiades Neo 5 and 6 loss
Follow the research
One letter a week. First, the week's underwriting note, when one is published: a dated, argued decision, signed by Paul Bernardski. Then what the observatory published on cyber risk, political risk and insurance. No account, no tracking.
No spam, one-click unsubscribe, no data ever sold.