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European Space Agency\u2019s (ESA) Director of Space Transportation Toni Tolker-Nielsen (left) and Avio\u2019s Chief Commercial Officer and Launch Services Director Marino Fragnito sign a\u00a0contract for a reuseable upper stage demonstration mission\u00a0at the International Aeronautical Congress in Sydney, Australia, 29 September 2025. On the right is\u00a0ESA\u2019s Chief Technical Advisor for Space Transportation Giorgio Tumino.<\/p>\n
ESA\u2019s Director of Space Transportation Toni Tolker-Nielsen explained, \u201cI 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\u2019s long-term future in space.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThe objective and content of the activities are the result of a joint harmonisation work made together with Avio to maximise the technology return on ESA and national investments,\u201d said ESA\u2019s Chief Technical Advisor for Space Transportation Giorgio Tumino, \u201cwe are capitalising on progress made in advanced liquid propulsion, reentry, recoverability and reusability technologies, complementing ongoing efforts to de-risk demonstrations of reusable lower stages, supporting different possible scenarios, including evolutions of the Vega family of rockets as well as other newly-defined fully-reusable launch systems in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chief Executive Officer at Avio, Giulio Ranzo, said, \u201cWe are excited to work on the reusable upper stage, leveraging on our parallel experiences in liquid oxygen-methane engines and stages as well as on the Space Rider reentry vehicle. We aim to create an advanced, light-weight, performance-efficient solution for our next-generation launchers to serve customers with higher flight rates and competitive costs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n