The German hypersonic experiment ATHEAt has successfully completed its technology test flight from Andøya Space.
The two-stage sub-orbital rocket carrying the hypersonic ATHEAt experiment lifted off from Andøya Space on October 6th, 2025, 10:45 local time.
“It was a great lift-off,” says Kolbjørn Blix, VP Sub-Orbital at Andøya Space. “The team downloaded a plethora of data from the flight. The encompassing data gained from this flight will contribute to the design of future space vehicles.”
ATHEAt stands for Advanced Technologies for High Energetic Atmospheric Flight of Launcher Stages. The technology experiment was conducted by the German Aerospace Center, DLR, to test structures, cooling techniques, miniaturized non-intrusive sensors and aerodynamic properties for future reusable space vehicles.
“I want to thank DLR for launching from Andøya Space. Our relationship goes back many decades, as Germany is an important contributor to European space technology,” says Blix. “Earlier this year, Norway flew the DLR sounding rocket recovery module on the MaxiDusty-2 research rocket.”
Andøya Space’s contribution to the project is launch services, telemetry services, support and necessary infrastructure.
The launch was streamed live on Andøya Space’s Youtube-channel. You can re-watch the launch here: