VEGA wins major extension to 32-year relationship with ESOC

2 February 2011 – VEGA Space Ltd (“VEGA”) has been awarded a Frame Contract for the Provision of Operations Engineering Services (commonly known as OD8) by the European Space Operation Centre (ESOC) for the eighth consecutive period. This extends VEGA’s unbroken relationship with ESOC to over 32 years.

The OD8 frame contract is for three years (plus an optional two years) and now covers the provision of five major services: Spacecraft Operations Engineering considering the missions prepared and executed by the Mission Operations Department; Ground Station Operations Engineering regarding the ESA Tracking stations; Operations Engineering activities in the context of manned missions; Administrative Support in the manned mission operations department; and Engineering Consultancy in the context of operations.

VEGA is supported in providing these services by a broad range of European companies including: Vitrociset Belgium, P cubed Ltd, Space Systems Finland, Thorn Sicherheits GmbH, JPSI s.a.r.l., HessenTech GmbH, Solenix GmbH, and Atos Origin.

Peter Young, CEO of VEGA, said: “VEGA was formed in 1978, when the founding four members joined forces to provide operational services for what was in effect the ‘OD1’ contract. Thirty two years on, VEGA staff are now embedded within the ESOC community and have been working with ESA and other industry personnel in preparation and operation of most of ESA’s Earth observation and scientific missions.”

John Lewis, Director of VEGA in Germany, added: “Preparing the ground segment to support ESA’s missions remains at the heart of VEGA’s business. The increased scope of this frame contract will give us the opportunity to play an even broader role in the continuing success of ESOC. Understanding the goals of the different ESA programmes is vital to VEGA’s strategy for using Space technology in a variety of different markets.”

Further information
For further information, please contact Karen Rogers on karen.rogers@vegaspace.com.