Tanker and Aerial Refueling Systems
Our spaceplanes will be equipped with optional aerial refueling capabilities for kerosene and potentially also liquid oxygen. This fundamentally changes the operational capabilities of spaceplanes and hypersonic aircraft.
Aerial refueling of spaceplanes offers:
- Global operation capability
- Launching of payloads into any orbit inclination
- Dramatic increase in mission flexibility and safety
- Increase in payload
Our development work for spaceplane aerial refueling has been supported by BAAINBw since 2024. Numerous fully automated formation test-flights with simulated tanker (ALEDA) and receiver (Mini MIRA II) have already been conducted.
In parallel, we already develop our own uncrewed tankers. The first scaled tanker demonstrator “ORCA” is currently in the manufacturing phase.
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