Arianespace’s Vega C rocket successfully delivered five Earth-observation spacecraft into Sun-synchronous orbit on its VV27 flight, lifting off from the Guiana Space Centre at 23:03 local time on 25 July (02:03 UTC on 26 July). The four Airbus-built CO3D satellites separated 57 minutes after launch, followed 44 minutes later by CNES’s MicroCarb climate-monitoring spacecraft. The CO3D constellation will compile high-resolution, three-dimensional maps of the planet for environmental research, urban planning and infrastructure projects over an expected eight-year service life. MicroCarb, designed for at least five years of operations, will track atmospheric carbon-dioxide sources and sinks with a dispersive spectrometer, data that Arianespace chief executive David Cavaillolès said is vital to “understand global warming.” The mission marked Vega C’s second launch of 2025 and the third orbital flight from Kourou this year, underscoring Europe’s effort to expand its own climate-science assets as larger Ariane 6 prepares for its inaugural flight next month.