Leaders of the European aerospace industry, France's Dassault Aviation and Germany's OHB, have announced the formation of a consortium to create a multi-purpose spaceplane named Vortex-S. This project, submitted to the European Space Agency (ESA), aims to ensure Europe's technological independence in orbital transport. This is according to a report by.
Vortex-S will be capable of performing regular flights to space stations and executing autonomous scientific missions. Within the partnership, Dassault Aviation will act as the lead architect and system integrator for the spacecraft, while OHB will be responsible for developing and integrating the service module.
Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier emphasized that this alliance is a natural step toward strengthening Europe's sovereignty in space. OHB CEO Marco Fuchs noted that Dassault's experience in creating Rafale fighter jets perfectly complements OHB's expertise in satellite technologies.
The foundation of the project is based on hypersonic technologies and control systems from Dassault Aviation's previous Hermes program and the IXV (Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle) experimental project. Vortex-S is an open initiative, and other major European companies are expected to join in the future.
If the ESA approves the project, Vortex-S will become Europe's primary transport system in the next decade. This will reduce the agency's dependence on foreign services and significantly expand capabilities for conducting biological and physical experiments in low Earth orbit.
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