On Sunday, 11th of May, Celestial Space Corporation took its first real step into the reusable launch market. At their Brancaster Testing Range in eastern England, the company’s vertical takeoff and landing demonstrator Cricket completed its inaugural test hop, rising briefly to a height of about 4 meters (13 feet) before returning to the pad.

​

Though small in scale and duration, lasting just 8 seconds, the hop was a proof of concept for a vehicle that CSC hopes will enable the future of European orbital class reusability.

​

“This was a hugely validating moment for our team,” said the test operations manager at Brancaster. “Seeing Cricket leave the ground and land under its own power gives us tremendous confidence in our software, engine controls, and hardware systems.”​

The Cricket vehicle is built largely from components of the company’s in development Acheron first stage, allowing Celestial to leverage flight relevant structures without committing a full-scale rocket. The vehicle uses the same aluminum-lithium alloy tanks as Acheron, a single Nova-1C methane engine, and is stabilised by four landing legs, each outfitted with hydraulic dampers to absorb shock on touchdown.

​

Though the hop itself was low and slow, the demonstration was about more than altitude.

“This test wasn’t about height, it was about control,” said Celestial’s lead systems engineer. “This is the first time we’ve commanded a full scale vehicle to launch, hover, and land using a regenerative engine throttle cycle and real time GNC systems.”

​

The flight follows a less seen trend in RoSpace, where incremental test campaigns using suborbital prototypes are used to validate reusability before attempting orbital flights. Groups like CLZ Space were previously on the path to following a similar program using vehicles such as their OlympiaHopper in 2023.

​

Looking to the future, testing is expected to last into the operations of Acheron, during which subsonic tests will be carried out at their Brancaster, England facility. An initial permit for up to 30 suborbital launches will allow flights at altitudes up to 3,500 m (11,500 ft) with durations of up to nearly three minutes. Later test flights may feature in-flight relights, high stress manuevers, and exposure to higher aerodynamic pressures. All of these will refine recovery strategies for the Acheron vehicle.

​​

“The flight may have only lasted a few seconds, but it represents months of effort and our first physical step in reusable spaceflight.” said Kwingo, CEO of Celestial Space. “Cricket is our first real step toward rockets that come back, refuel, and fly again.”

​

The company is also reportedly preparing a second prototype with enhanced hardware, telemetry, and improved systems for in flight vectoring. It is expected to debut later this summer as part of the second flight series.

​

Though Celestial has kept much of its VTVL work hidden, and only revealed the vehicle after its flight, internal morale appears strong. Engineers on site applauded the touchdown on Sunday, noting that Cricket returned within just 20 centimeters of its intended mark.

​

The company has not announced when the second hop will occur but says it is aiming for “short turnaround times” between tests. If successful, the Cricket program will be the foundation for vertical landings of future Acheron boosters, positioning Celestial as one of few community players aggressively pursuing rapid reusability.