Dassault is working with the French Armed Forces to develop VORTEX, a reusable spaceplane designed for civil, scientific, commercial and military applications. VORTEX will travel to orbit on a small rocket and land on airport runways.

PARIS – Europe should be investing in disruptive capabilities like spaceplanes, said Maj. Gen. Philippe Koffi, French armament agency DGA strategic lead for air, land and naval combat. “A spaceplane is maneuverable, reusable and flexible, so it can deliver payload in orbit, recover critical assets, conduct reconnaissance and intervene against threats in orbit,” Koffi said […]

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Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She is a recipient...