Vega-C | Harmony

Harmony, ESA's 10th Earth Explorer mission, consists of 2 satellites that will orbit Earth in tandem with a Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite in various configurations. The Harmony satellites’ synthetic aperture radar instruments will receive the Sentinel-1 satellite's radar signals that bounce back, or ‘backscatter’, from Earth’s surface. At the same time, Harmony’s thermal-infrared instruments provide complementary observations of the sea surface as well as the position and motion of clouds above it.

Vega-C is a single-body rocket nearly 35 m high with that weighs 210 tonnes on the launch pad. As with Vega, its main elements are three solid-propellant stages, an upper stage powered by a reignitable liquid-propellant engine and a payload fairing. Vega-C's P120C first stage replaces Vega’s smaller P80 to provide a significant increase in thrust at liftoff. It is also used as boosters (2 or 4) for the Ariane 6 rocket.

Avio S.p.A. is an Italian company operating in the aerospace sector with its head office in Colleferro near Rome, Italy. Founded in 1908, it is present in Italy and abroad with different commercial offices and 10 production sites.

• European Space AgencyMultinational