Vega C to launch Brazilian satellite

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Brazilian government agency will launch an Earth observation satellite on a Vega C rocket, working with a launch broker rather than contracting directly with Avio.

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, known by the Portuguese acronym INPE, said Jan. 27 it will launch the Amazonia-1B satellite on a Vega C in 2027. The 700-kilogram spacecraft will operate in sun-synchronous orbit as part of a national Earth observation program called AQUAE focused on monitoring water resources.

While Amazonia-1B will launch on a Vega C, INPE contracted not with Avio, which is assuming responsibility for Vega C launch services, but with SpaceLaunch, a Texas-based launch broker.

“We received four proposals that were evaluated, first technically and then on value. We are satisfied to have Amazonia-1B launched by Vega C and to have all the support provided by SpaceLaunch,” Antonio Miguel Vieira Monteiro, director of INPE, said in a statement.

Marcy Mabry, co-founder and chief executive of SpaceLaunch, said she previously worked with INPE to arrange the launch of Amazonia-1 while at Spaceflight, a launch services provider later acquired by Firefly Aerospace. That spacecraft launched on an Indian PSLV rocket in 2021.

“Members of our team previously supported the Amazonia-1 mission, and we are proud to continue working with INPE to deliver the next satellite in the Amazonia program,” Mabry said in a statement. “Vega C offers a strong combination of performance and reliability for Amazonia-1B, and we look forward to working closely with INPE and Avio to deliver a successful mission.”

SpaceLaunch announced an agreement with Avio in September 2025 for the launch of what Avio described as an “extra-European institutional customer,” which the companies did not identify at the time. Mabry said that agreement was for Amazonia-1B.

The companies did not disclose the value of the contract. However, a Jan. 21 Brazilian procurement document states that the contract between INPE and SpaceLaunch is worth 188.2 million Brazilian real ($35.6 million).

While this launch was arranged through SpaceLaunch, Avio has assumed responsibility for marketing Vega C launches as part of a transition of launch services duties from Arianespace. Avio announced in December that it signed two Vega C launch contracts with undisclosed customers with a combined value of more than 100 million euros ($119 million).

Avio is also scheduled to take over Vega C launch operations at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. “I think we are quite close to the end” of that transition, David Cavaillolès, chief executive of Arianespace, said during a Jan. 15 call with reporters, adding that the handover had been “very smooth.”

Arianespace remains responsible for one additional Vega C launch, although Cavaillolès said that mission will not be the next Vega C launch but will instead take place later in the year. Avio will handle the next Vega C launch, but neither company has disclosed a schedule for upcoming Vega missions.