In brief
- The first model of ESA’s reusable rocket demonstrator Themis is standing on its own legs at its launch pad in Kiruna, Sweden.
- Themis is set to be the first European demonstration of a full-scale vertical take-off and landing rocket element that uses cryogenic propulsion.
- This is the first time the rocket stage demonstrator has had its four legs installed, now the demonstrator is fully assembled.
Better late than never, so lets hope that from here on they double down and speed up development to catch up.
Also to state the obvious: it is too round on the top, it needs to be pointy
I wonder if you could change from having a pointed top to an inverted point with cuts out the side bulbing into like a ramjet engine.
So the air is forced in through the top compressed and jettesoned out the sides downward. Wouldn’t do any good on decent, but it would be fun to model and see if it made any benefits on launch