The German Space Agency, DLR has revealed that the launch of its Reusable Flight Experiment (ReFEx) demonstrator has slipped by another year to late 2026.
Work on the ReFEx demonstrator began in 2017 with the aim of demonstrating a winged reusable rocket first stage. The 2.7-metre demonstrator has a wingspan of 1.1 metres and a mass of around 450 kilograms.
In November 2023, DLR projected that ReFEx would be launched in 2024 after the agency completed the manufacture of a structural model. In May 2024, Southern Launch, the company that manages the operation of the Koonibba Test Range, where the mission will be launched, updated its schedule, pushing the launch of ReFEx from 2024 to 2025.
On 31 October, the DLR Institute of Structures and Design announced a significant milestone for the ReFEx project: the completion of assembly, integration, and testing of the demonstrator’s primary structure. The post included an updated schedule that pushed the launch to 2026. DLR has now also updated the initiative’s project page to reflect that the flight will not occur until “the end of 2026.”
Barring any further delays, ReFEx will be launched in late 2026 atop a Brazilian VSB-30 sounding rocket from the Australian launch facility. After it is deployed at approximately 130 kilometres in altitude, the demonstrator will return on a trajectory comparable to that of a returning winged first stage and complete a belly landing.
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