While ArianeGroup pushes ahead with the development of the delayed Themis reusable booster demonstrator, the company is also quietly advancing an initiative known as SkyHopper, which aims to enable the recovery and reuse of the Maia rocket’s first stage. This suggests a closer level of collaboration with its subsidiary MaiaSpace than was previously apparent.
MaiaSpace was founded in 2021 as a wholly owned subsidiary of ArianeGroup. The company is developing a two-stage rocket called Maia that will be capable of delivering 1,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit when launched in an expendable configuration and 500 kilograms when it is being recovered. The rocket will launch from the ELM2 pad at the Guiana Space Centre, a former Soyuz launch site currently being renovated by MaiaSpace for its own use.
On 4 April, the French space agency CNES published a call for a socio-economic assessment of the MaiaSpace launch service project and the SkyHopper project. The assessments follow a call issued in October 2023 for the demonstration of the recovery and reuse of a mini-launcher first stage. The contract was awarded to ArianeGroup in November 2024, with MaiaSpace acting as a subcontractor. In France, socio-economic assessments are required for any project receiving €20 million or more in public funding. However, the documents provided by CNES do not specify how much over the €20 million threshold ArianeGroup has received.
According to the 4 April call, the SkyHopper project is focused on the development of the modifications required for the reuse of the Maia first stage. The project will be led by AraineGroup, with MaiaSpace acting as a subcontractor and the project’s launch operator. It will include the recovery and reuse of a “restored to flight-ready” Maia first stage within 12 months of its recovery, with the recovery phase targeted for 2027.
While ArianeGroup has yet to publish any official information about the SkyHopper project, at least four employees mention it in their LinkedIn profiles. One describes their role as the initiative’s project manager, while the other three indicate they are working on both SkyHopper and the Themis reusable booster demonstrator concurrently, suggesting a degree of overlap.
