Dassault Unveils Vortex Spaceplane with ESA and French Military Support

Reusable orbital vehicle could provide space station transport, cargo logistics, and in-orbit services for commercial, science, and military customers.

Jack Daleo

Monday, June 23, 2025 at 02:00 PM ET

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Jack Daleo

Dassault displayed its reusable Vortex spaceplane concept at the Paris Air Show. [Jack Daleo/FLYING]

Key Takeaways:

French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation has unveiled "Vortex," a new family of reusable low-Earth orbit (LEO) spaceplanes, marking its entry into the competitive reusable spacecraft market.
Vortex is envisioned as a versatile vehicle capable of runway takeoffs and landings, designed for various commercial, scientific, and military missions, including orbital transport and satellite deployment/retrieval.
Dassault has secured strategic partnerships with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French Armed Forces to support the development and demonstration of Vortex, aiming to strengthen European space autonomy.
The project involves a phased development plan, starting with suborbital and scaled demonstrators, with ambitions for full-scale cargo and crewed variants, leveraging Dassault's prior experience in space vehicle design.

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PARIS—French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation, maker of the popular Rafale series of twin-engine fighter jets, is planning to go orbital.

At the Paris Air Show, Dassault unveiled its “Véhicule Orbital Réutilisable de Transport et d’Exploration,” or Vortex, which translates to Reusable Orbital Transport and Exploration Vehicle. The manufacturer has signed agreements with the European Space Agency (ESA) and French Armed Forces to chart a path to demonstrations of the low-Earth orbit (LEO) spaceplane concept.