The European Space Agency has announced plans to support industry-led flight demonstrations of reusable rocket first stages and boosters as part of a new phase of its Boosters for European Space Transportation (BEST!) initiative.
On 27 October, ESA published a call for its BEST!2 Flight Demonstrations initiative, which is intended to “accelerate the development and in-flight demonstration of reusable first-stage/booster technologies.” According to the notice, the activity will support system-level demonstrations addressing first-stage recovery and re-flight, aiming to reduce technical and operational risks and accelerate the introduction of these technologies into operational launch systems.
The call is currently listed as Intended on the agency’s tendering platform, a status that typically means detailed tender documents outlining expected budgets and timelines are not yet available.
This new call follows the first round of the BEST! initiative, which saw contracts awarded in late 2024 to ArianeGroup and Isar Aerospace. This phase covered Phases 0/A through B1, including technical feasibility studies, preliminary design work, and the definition and costing of future flight demonstrations.
As previously reported by European Spaceflight, ArianeGroup proposed adapting the first stage of the small launch vehicle being developed by its subsidiary MaiaSpace into reusable liquid boosters for a future evolution of Ariane 6. Isar Aerospace, meanwhile, proposed developing a reusable first-stage demonstrator for its Spectrum rocket.
It is not yet clear whether the new flight demonstration call will provide follow-on funding for either project or whether ESA intends to open the process to other proposals.
Alongside the BEST!2 Flight Demonstrations notice, ESA has also published a separate procurement notice for an initiative called BEST! Reloaded. This activity will fund a new round of preliminary studies focused on developing reusable first-stage and recovery concepts for future European medium- and heavy-lift launch vehicles. The studies will also define potential future flight demonstration campaigns.
Both activities fall under ESA’s Future Launchers Preparatory Programme, which supports the development and demonstration of technologies for future European launch systems.
I think the goal should be: make every launcher-class rocket (micro, small, medium, heavy, superheavy) reusable… and then found a small settlement on the moon (if a superheavy reusable is possible technically with european enginneers)…
I just wished the billions for the developement would come from those numerous German billionaires sitting cowardly on their money and not investing like Bezos/SpaceX…