Swiss varsity students achieve what no European space firm could-a successful rocket hop test

A team of students achieved what no other space agency or company in Europe could: a successful rocket hop test.

According to Interesting Engineering(IE), in October, students in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne's Gruyère Space Program (GSP) designed COLIBRI, a 2.5-meter reusable rocket hopper that became the first to perform a rocket hop on mainland Europe.

By doing so, they beat the likes of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Arianespace.

GSP president Jérémy Marciacq told IE,"“Our initial goal was simple: to learn as much as possible. We were just entering university, and after experimenting with small 3D-printed rockets, we set our sights on the COLIBRI mission.”

“At the time, we didn’t think it was feasible,” he continued. “We were just trying to get a drone to fly and fire a basic bi-liquid engine. But once those started working, sponsors began to take notice, and that’s when the COLIBRI mission truly took off.”

Marciacq added that the rocket was named after the German and French word for 'Hummingbird', as “it’s the only bird that can fly backward, just like our rocket, which returns to its launchpad.”

COLIBRI performed its successful hop test on October 18, performing 105-metre free flight. The rocket flew to a height of 105 metres, then moved 30 metres southeast before landing back on the launchpad, all within 60 seconds.

While the test was successful, a piece of cheese that the team attached to the rocket as a nod to their heritage almost caused a disaster. "The cheese created an aero effect that led to the rocket overspinning,” Marciacq told IE. “In the end, it all worked out, and we ate it after the flight. It was slightly warm but still quite tasty!”

“It was purely for fun, but in the end it allowed us to discover some limits to our design – notably for roll control,” Marciacq continued. “We saw that we still have margins in case of reaction control system loss. This also indicates some limits in case of flights with higher speeds – it would require higher thrust in the RCS for roll control.”

“Our success came down to an incredibly dedicated and resilient team,” Marciacq explained to IE. “We faced numerous setbacks along the way, but the determination to see a rocket landing in Europe kept us going.”

After the success it achieved, GSP has now used its rocket tech to launch a startup called PAVE Space.

“At PAVE Space, we’re focusing on developing autonomous spacecraft to advance space mobility and robotics,” Marciacq told IE. “Our goal is to make space more transparent, sustainable, and operational.”

“As for building a full-scale reusable rocket, that’s not our immediate focus – there are already plenty of players in Europe tackling that,” he continued. “However, we’re always open to sharing the knowledge we gained from the Colibri project to help others.”