Hopper (spacecraft)

Hopper is a planned unmanned space transportation system of the ESA. It resembles an airplane and should be started from a 4 km long track on a sled in French Guiana and then increase to 130 km altitude, there to suspend a rocket that can put satellites into orbit. Then shall Hopper land on an Atlantic island and will be transferred by boat back to French Guiana. The system can be 2020 at the earliest operational and should the price by a payload to transport into space per kilogram to about 5000, according to estimates - lower 10000 euros.

A precursor of Hopper is Phoenix, which made its first successful glide test in May 2004.