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Rendering of the Kestrel reentry capsule, a white conical spacecraft with a dark heat shield and deployed solar panels
Image: Orbital Paradigm

Kestrel

by Orbital Paradigm · Return capsules

Also found in Low Earth orbit.

A reusable return capsule designed to bring back 120 kg of payload after up to three months in orbit, landing precisely in continental Europe.

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Why it matters

European researchers and manufacturers have few ways to get experiments back from orbit. A small, reusable capsule flying monthly could make that routine.

How the technology works

Kestrel launches on commercial rockets, operates on its own in orbit, then reenters and makes a precision vertical landing. A capsule recovery mission called Learn to Fly is planned for the first quarter of 2027 and Kestrel service for the first quarter of 2028.

Spain's CDTI funds the project through its NEOTEC programme.

Sources

  1. Orbital Paradigm

Updated Oct 22, 2026 · How we source facts · Suggest a correction