ESA's reusable rocket demonstrator Themis has been fully assembled and is now standing on its launch pad in Kiruna, Sweden, marking a significant step towards testing full-scale vertical take-off and landing technologies using cryogenic propulsion.
ESA's reusable rocket demonstrator, Themis, is undergoing assembly at ArianeGroup's facility in Les Mureaux, France. The rocket, equipped with the Prometheus engine, aims to demonstrate technologies for rocket stage recovery and reuse. The assembly includes installing landing legs, power systems, avionics, and a pressurization system. Themis will be transported to Sweden for its first test flight, marking Europe's initial demonstration of a vertical take-off and landing rocket with cryogenic propulsion.
ArianeGroup has achieved full ignition of an early prototype of Prometheus, a reusable engine for European rockets, at its test facility in Vernon, France. The engine features extensive use of new materials and manufacturing techniques designed to reduce its cost to just a tenth of Ariane 5’s Vulcain 2. Prometheus burns liquid oxygen-liquid methane fuel, and a version using liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen is also being developed. The engine is mounted in a prototype of a reusable rocket stage, called Themis, which is being developed in parallel with the engine.