Public roadmap · September 2026
Build the evidence for transportation one step at a time, with space energy as our core business. This roadmap separates milestones tied to calendar dates from progress governed by evidence gates.
A plan, not a launch promise※1
Why we build
Space energy is the core business of Copernicus Sust Space. Rockets are the transportation system for energy infrastructure, people, satellites, robots, spacecraft, and cargo.
We will not leap straight into the largest vision. We observe, calculate, run numerical experiments, conduct safe tests, and retain evidence through independent review. Each new capability opens only after the preceding conditions are met.
Calendar roadmap
The only specific dates we can publish today are November 2027 and November 2028.※2
Define measurable Nicolaus 1 requirements, run numerical experiments to examine design assumptions, establish independent safety review, and prepare the necessary people, location, legal, and funding conditions. Hazardous combustion, high-pressure work, and real-vehicle flight have not begun.
This is the earliest planning target, not a promised date. It will be postponed automatically unless every gate is satisfied, including safety, regulatory approval, quality, insurance, launch site, and recovery.
We retain the date as a target, but have not yet decided what must be complete by then. The milestone will be defined only after reviewing the available evidence and progress.
Progress by evidence
Instead of filling undecided timelines with guesses, we publish the conditions required to move forward.
Confirm an altitude of at least 100 km using multiple pre-defined measurement datasets; transmit the data to the ground and store it onboard; meet the pre-defined ocean-splashdown criteria; and locate and recover the vehicle itself. Complete all four conditions three times in total, then finish the required reviews.
Completion date: OPENAfter three complete Nicolaus 1 successes and the required reviews, we will make a separate decision on whether to proceed to the next generation. Flight count alone will not trigger an automatic transition.
Program start and first-flight timing: OPENWe will review the Rocket, partial reuse, Energy, Transfer, Receiver, Pilot, and Business conditions. A development decision for the third generation will be made only when the necessary evidence is available.
Program start and first-flight timing: OPENVehicle roadmap
A name or flight count does not move the program forward. The next development decision is made only after each generation meets its conditions and completes review.
Target an altitude of at least 100 km with a single-stage, fully uncrewed vehicle, and verify the data, splashdown, location, and recovery. Confirm the same complete success three times before proceeding to the next generation.
Design targets include delivering up to 200 kg to low Earth orbit, completing at least five flights, carrying an in-house satellite, reusing primarily the first stage, and demonstrating energy transfer with a Copernicus-owned vehicle.
Nicolaus 3 targets up to 500 kg and full-vehicle reuse. Heavy is a derivative concept using three standard cores; it is not the fourth generation.
A long-term concept for the Moon, Mars, Kepler, and large cargo. Its exterior form and engine arrangement are design targets; performance, structure, and timing remain unverified.
Cost roadmap
We will iterate design and analysis digitally, concentrating funding on manufacturing, testing, facilities, operations, and recovery. Reuse will count toward cost reduction only after evidence shows that the same vehicle can fly again safely.
Per flight · Not formally adopted※3
The first step
The first step toward making this Master Plan real is an uncrewed flight targeting a peak altitude of at least 100 km. We will not build the entire future at once; we will complete one full cycle of requirements, numerical experiments, safety review, assessment, and verification.
