Vega (Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata, in English European Advanced Generation Carrier Rocket) is an expendable launch system being developed for Arianespace jointly by the Italian Space Agency and the European Space Agency. Development began in 1998 and the first launch, which will take place from the Guiana Space Centre, is planned for 9 February 2012. It is named after the star Vega.

It is designed to launch small payloads: 300 to 2,000 kg satellites for scientific and Earth observation missions to polar and low Earth orbits. The reference Vega mission is a polar orbit bringing a spacecraft of 1,500 kilogrammes to an altitude of 700 kilometers.