Italian rocket manufacturer Avio has revealed that delays in the delivery of customer satellites have pushed the third Vega C launch of 2026 back toward Christmas, several weeks later than previously planned.
Speaking during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on 11 November, Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo explained that the mission, which will carry six satellites, had been delayed as the company awaited the arrival of the final spacecraft.
“The satellites from the customers are a little bit late, so we are waiting for the last few of them to arrive,” said Ranzo. “It’s an interesting mission, six different satellites. They’re coming in a little bit late, so we are coming very close to Christmas Day.”
During the company’s half-year earnings call on 10 September, Ranzo said that the mission was scheduled for “the very beginning of December”. Based on his latest comments, the launch appears to have slipped by approximately two to three weeks.
The flight is expected to carry six satellites for Italy’s IRIDE Earth observation constellation. According to photographs published by the French space agency CNES, a shipment of the Thales Alenia Space-built satellites arrived in French Guiana by air on 9 November 2026. The spacecraft were then transported from Félix Éboué Airport to the Guiana Space Centre, arriving at the facility’s S3B payload preparation building the following day.
The latest setback is not the first time this year that Avio has blamed changes to its Vega C launch schedule on delays in the delivery of customer payloads.
During the same 10 September earnings call, Ranzo explained that the company could have conducted more than three Vega C launches in 2026, adding that “one satellite was somewhat late.”
So far in 2026, Avio has completed two Vega C launches. The most recent, conducted on 15 September , successfully deployed the European Space Agency’s FLEX satellite and the European Commission’s Sentinel-3C Earth observation satellite into orbit.
The company is working to increase Vega C’s annual launch cadence, with Ranzo indicating during the November earnings call that Avio was aiming to progress to four and eventually five launches per year, provided customers could meet their spacecraft delivery schedules.
During a May earnings call, Ranzo suggested that Avio could conduct as many as five Vega C launches in 2027, just one short of its medium-term target of six flights per year. However, speaking during the company’s November earnings call, Ranzo appeared to temper those expectations, outlining a more gradual increase to four and then five launches annually, suggesting that the company could now be targeting four flights in 2027. He qualified that outlook with a caveat, adding, “if the customers maintain their deadlines”.
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