In its conclusions published on 2 October, the Independent Enquiry Commission set up after the failure of a static ignition of the Zefiro40 engine powering the second stage of the Vega-C firing test on 28 June 2023 concluded that this failure was due to the design of the nozzle.
According to the commission, in the current design of the nozzle, the combination of the geometry of the Carbon-Carbon throat insert and the different thermo-mechanical properties of the new material caused...