# Vela

Vela or Velas may refer to:

## Astronomy

* Vela (constellation), a constellation in the southern sky (the Sails)
** Vela (Chinese astronomy)
** Vela Pulsar
** Vela X-1, a pulsing, eclipsing high-mass X-ray binary system

## Places

* Vela Bluff, Antarctica
* Vela, Dolj, Romania
* Vela (Ilidža – Sarajevo), Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Velas, Maharashtra, India

## Ships

* CMA CGM Vela, a container ship in service since 2008
* USNS Vela (T-AK-89), US Army port repair ship
* Vela-class submarine, of the Indian Navy
** INS Vela (S40), in service 1973–2010

## Technology

* Project Vela, a system developed by the United States to monitor compliance with the Partial Test Ban Treaty
** Vela (satellite), a series of satellites launched by the United States to monitor nuclear testing
*** Vela incident, an international incident, in which a Vela satellite is thought to possibly have observed a nuclear test
* Versatile Laboratory Aid (VELA), a data logging tool used in education

## People
### Given name

* Vela Jiménez (fl. 882–883), Count of Álava
* Vela Ladrón (fl. 1136–1174), Spanish nobleman
* Vela Manusaute, Niuean writer and director
* Vela Ovéquiz (fl. 1065–1085), count in the Kingdom of Galicia
* Vela Peeva (1922–1944), Bulgarian partisan
* Vela Velupillai (born 1947), Sri Lankan-American economist

### Surname

* Alejandro Vela (born 1984), Mexican footballer
* Alexandra Vela, Ecuadorian lawyer and politician
* Arqueles Vela (1899–1977), Guatemalan-Mexican writer, journalist, and teacher
* Blanca Vela (1936–2014), American politician
* Blasco Núñez Vela (1490–1546), viceroy of Peru
* Carlos Vela (born 1989), Mexican footballer
* Carmen Vela (born 1955), Spanish entrepreneur, researcher, and cabinet minister
* Cindy Vela (born 1979), American actress, model, and saxophonist
* Cristóbal Vela (1588–1654), Spanish Baroque painter and gilder
* Ernesto Vela (born 1968), Mexican Olympic swimmer
* Filemon Vela, Jr. (born 1963), American lawyer and politician
* Filemon Vela, Sr. (1935–2004), United States federal judge
* Giuseppe Vela Júnior (born 1977), Brazilian footballer
* Gonzalo Vázquez Vela (1893–1963), Mexican politician
* José Manuel Vela Bargues (1962–2022), Spanish economist and politician
* Josh Vela (born 1993), English footballer
* Lucé Vela, First Lady of Puerto Rico from 2009 to 2013
* Marco Alonso Vela (born 1961), Mexican politician
* Moises Vela, American lawyer and government advisor
* Nallely Vela (born 1986), Mexican sprinter
* Norma Safford Vela, American television writer, director, and producer
* Orlando Vela (born 1994), Mexican footballer
* Rafael Cárdenas Vela, Mexican drug cartel leader
* Ricky Vela, American songwriter and keyboardist
* Rodolfo Neri Vela (born 1952), Mexican scientist and astronaut
* Rosie Vela (born 1954), American model and singer-songwriter
* Sergio Vela (born 1964), Mexican-American opera director
* Spartaco Vela (1853–1895), Italian painter, son of Vincenzo Vela
* Vincenzo Vela (1820–1891), Swiss-Italian sculptor

## Other uses

* Nemmara Vallangi Vela, an annual festival of a village called Nemmara in South India
* Vela International Marine, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco
* Vela, a playable character in the video game Jet Force Gemini
* Vela, a religious, cultural celebration from the city of Tehuantepec, Mexico
* Vela, an alternative appellation for Mokosh, the consort of the Slavic god of thunder
* Vela, a genus of land crabs in the family Gecarcinucidae
* Vela (film), a 2023 Indian crime drama