![\"ESA](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ESA-Waiting-for-Spring-to-Launch-Themis-Reusable-Rocket-Demonstrator.webp.webp\")
Credit: ArianeGroup \/ Swedish Space Corporation<\/p>\n Credit: ArianeGroup \/ Swedish Space Corporation<\/p>\n
The European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed that, with the launch facility in Sweden currently \u201cunder snow,\u201d it is \u201cwaiting for spring\u201d to launch an initial hop test of its Themis reusable rocket booster demonstrator.<\/p>\n
ESA began work on the Themis project in 2019 as a means of maturing reusable rocket technology for future European launch systems. In June 2025, the first Themis demonstrator was transported by ArianeGroup, the project\u2019s prime contractor, from its facility in Les Mureaux to the Esrange Space Centre in northern Sweden. In September, ArianeGroup announced that the 28-metre-tall demonstrator has been transferred to the launch pad ahead of a combined test campaign<\/a> that would represent the final step before an initial low-altitude hop test. Since then, however, there have been no further updates on the progress toward that first flight.<\/p>\n On 8 January, during a press conference following Director General Josef Aschbacher\u2019s annual briefing, Toni Tolker-Nielsen, acting Director of ESA\u2019s Space Transportation programme, was asked about the status of the initial test flight of Themis. In response, Tolker-Nielsen explained that the weather had been the determining factor.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s in Kiruna and it\u2019s under snow today,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo we are waiting for spring.\u201d<\/p>\n In his initial remarks, Director General Aschbacher revealed that the agency was currently targeting the first quarter of 2026 for the first hop test of Themis.<\/p>\n