EADS Phoenix autonomous landing demonstrator

Phoenix was EADS Space Transportation’s unpowered test vehicle for autonomous runway recovery of a winged reusable launcher. Developed within Germany’s ASTRA research effort with a shape derived from the Hopper concept, it completed three automatic landing tests in May 2004 at the North European Aerospace Test range in Vidsel, Sweden. Helicopter release from 2,400 m allowed the vehicle to demonstrate landing guidance using inertial navigation, differential GPS, radar altitude and laser ranging. The flown prototype was 6.775 m long with a 3.84 m wingspan and a reported mass of 1,200 kg.