Adeline (rocket stage)

Adeline, short for Advanced Expendable Launcher with Innovative engine Economy, was an Airbus Defence and Space concept for a reusable rocket first stage that would fly itself back to Earth using drone technology. After the stage was exhausted, its engine module would be jettisoned for reentry, and the stage would glide on small winglets before landing horizontally on a runway with two small pusher propellers. The idea was to reuse about 80 percent of the stage's economic value, mainly the engines, avionics and propulsion bay, and it was proposed for a future evolution of Ariane 6. Airbus started the programme in 2010, had invested about 15 million euros by May 2015 and flown scale models, but in 2018 an official of the CNES launcher directorate declared the concept not financially interesting.