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Paris (dpa) - After the crash of a Vega rocket, the European operator Arianespace will resume flights with this load carrier by the end of March.
This was announced by the company's boss, Stéphane Israël, in Paris on Friday.
An independent commission of inquiry has confirmed initial assumptions that the crash in mid-November was not due to a design error in the rocket.
In the upper stage of the rocket, however, cables were incorrectly connected, as Arianespace announced.
Before a new start there should now be additional tests and controls.
The Vega rocket loaded with two satellites was launched from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.
The first three stages of the carrier worked as planned.
When the engine of the upper stage was ignited eight minutes after take-off, however, there was a deviation in the flight path.
The mission is considered to have failed and the cargo is lost.
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Already in the summer of 2019 there was a false start of a Vega rocket - but the circumstances were different, as those responsible said.
The likely reason was a defect in the engine in the second stage rocket.
The missile broke into two large pieces.
With a height of 30 meters, the Vega is the smallest load carrier in the arsenal of the European rocket operator Arianespace.
It is suitable for small science and earth observation satellites.
It made its first flight on February 13, 2012. It is mainly manufactured in Italy by the rocket manufacturer Avio.
The operator also uses the Ariane 5 and the Soyuz from Russian production.
The Vega rocket had the earth observation satellite "Seosat" and the satellite "Taranis" for the French space agency CNES on board.
Arianespace is part of the ArianeGroup, which in turn is a joint venture between the European aviation group Airbus and the French engine manufacturer Safran.
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