CALLISTO

With CALLISTO, DLR engineers, in collaboration with the French space agency CNES and the Japanese space agency JAXA, are designing a demonstrator that can launch vertically and then land in the same alignment (this is referred to as vertical take-off, vertical landing (VTLT)). CALLISTO is guided using aerodynamic control surfaces during a non-powered phase, featuring a transition from supersonic to subsonic flow conditions. The engine is then reignited to decelerate the CALLISTO Vehicle.The landing system therefore absorbs the residual kinetic energy, enabling CALLISTO to perform a safe and stable landing.

Perfecting design, from flight to flight
The CALLISTO project is intended to improve the knowledge about VTLT rocket stages; it will also demonstrate technologies that are necessary to build and market such rockets. The 3.5-tonne rocket is scheduled for take-off from the spaceport in French Guiana in 2022, and additional test flights will follow. The findings from the various flight tests will be used to optimise the design of a reusable space transport system.

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
Manuela Braun · E-Mail manuela.braun@dlr.de