Atmos Declares Phoenix Test Flight a Success Despite Reentry Challenges
WASHINGTON | April 23, 2025 — German aerospace startup Atmos Space Cargo has declared the maiden flight of its Phoenix reentry vehicle a success, even as uncertainties remain regarding the final reentry phase.
The Atmos Phoenix test flight launched aboard SpaceX’s Bandwagon-3 rideshare mission on April 21. After separating from the upper stage, the Phoenix vehicle initiated reentry over the South Atlantic Ocean, roughly 2,000 kilometers off Brazil’s coast—far from its originally planned landing near Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
🚀 Three Key Mission Objectives
Speaking during an April 22 briefing, Sebastian Klaus, CEO of Atmos Space Cargo, outlined the mission’s three primary goals:
- Collect flight data from Phoenix systems
- Operate and return payload data
- Evaluate the inflatable heat shield during atmospheric reentry
According to Klaus, all four payloads—including experiments from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and commercial clients—successfully powered on and transmitted data. “We can call that a full success,” he said.
🌍 Trajectory Shift and Reentry Complications
Originally, the spacecraft was intended to reenter over the Indian Ocean. Atmos had prepared recovery ships and aircraft to capture live reentry data and retrieve the capsule post-splashdown.
However, just five weeks prior to launch, SpaceX notified Atmos of a trajectory change due to operational requirements of the mission’s primary payload—a South Korean reconnaissance satellite. The new path led to a steeper descent and splashdown in the South Atlantic, outside recovery range and in more challenging atmospheric conditions.
📡 Limited Reentry Data Collected
Atmos established new ground stations in South America and chartered an aircraft to gather real-time reentry data. Unfortunately, the plane could not reach the altered splashdown zone, and cloud cover blocked visibility.
Despite these setbacks, preliminary telemetry indicates the inflatable heat shield deployed as expected. However, Klaus emphasized that more time is needed to confirm full heat shield performance and descent stability.
“It would be much better to have more data on the critical last phase of the flight,” Klaus noted. “But then on the other side, there’s a lot we have learned about all other systems and operational aspects.”
🔄 Looking Ahead: Phoenix’s Next Mission
Atmos Space Cargo plans to launch a second Phoenix vehicle in 2026, incorporating lessons from this mission. Improvements will likely include enhanced telemetry support and optimized reentry monitoring.
“All in all, I would say it’s a very successful mission,” Klaus concluded.
The Phoenix vehicle represents a novel approach to cargo return, using a lightweight inflatable heat shield to lower costs and increase reusability in orbital missions—potentially opening a new chapter in commercial space logistics.
