In preparation for the launch of Vega flight VV02, the Zefiro 9 solid fuel engine is installed at the Vega Launcher assembly building at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The Zefiro 9 was derived from a 16-tonne solid rocket motor development (Zefiro 16) initiated by Fiat-Avio, now Avio S.p.A., with company funding and contracted by the Italian space agency ASI. The Zefiro-9 motor features include: a 1.9 m diameter carbon epoxy filament wound case; a low density EPDM insulation; HTPB 1912 composite propellant; a nozzle based on a flexible joint technology; a consumable igniter; and an electromechanical thrust vector control system.