European Space Agency signs contract for a Starship Clone

Low in the news this week were reports that the European Space Agency had signed a contract with one of their regular contractors, Italian rocket supplier Avio, to produce a reusable rocket upper stage. Avio is a contractor on other ESA launch vehicle contracts, like Vega 6 and the Ariane.  

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Avio signed a two-year contract worth 40 million euros (about $47 million U.S. at current exchange rates) on Monday (Sept. 29) at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here in Sydney, Australia, with the goal of preparing for in-flight demonstration of a reusable upper stage.  

In the bigger picture sense, the ESA has talked about reusability for some time, and we've covered it here over the years - like about three weeks ago. This contract will cover the preliminary design and the technologies for the ground and flight segments required for an upper stage demonstrator.

It's too soon to know what the test vehicle will look like, but ESA put out a possible signpost on Monday. The agency posted on X a rendering that looks a lot like SpaceX's Starship megarocket upper stage. 

"I am glad to sign this contract since its importance is two-fold: on one side it addresses technological criticalities in the short-term; on the other side, it paves the way for the preparation of Europe's long-term future in space," ESA's Director of Space Transportation Toni Tolker-Nielsen said in their statement.

ESA says the move capitalizes on progress made in advanced liquid propulsion, reentry, recoverability and reusability technologies. The upper stage could be used on future Vega rockets, also developed by Italian multinational Avio, or other European rockets.

The ESA started down this path almost exactly three years ago with an upper stage called Susie - or Smart Upper Stage for Innovative Exploration.  I can't find any records of a vehicle equipped with a Susie ever flying.