Swiss Space Systems Holding SA (S3): Mock-up test flights of SOAR shuttle planned

The Swiss S3 SOAR shuttle. Initially, the small-scale shuttle mock-up, including its drone systems, will be captive-carried by a helicopter. 

In a second phase, it will be released from a helicopter at an altitude of 5,000 meters, which will enable testing of flight systems and the aerodynamics of the shuttle, in parallel of a wind tunnel testing campaign conducted in the US to validate aerodynamics.

Swiss Space Systems Holding SA (S3) has announced its partnership with the City of North Bay and Canadore College.

This partnership will enable S3 to initiate several technical activities from this Canadian region, a highly interesting zone, because of its geographic situation and its large available test flight corridors.

The first operations to be conducted from the North Bay Jack Garland Airport (YYB) will be drop tests and mock-up test flights of the SOAR shuttle, a reusable suborbital rocket-powered vehicle designed to orbit satellites of up to 250kg.

This campaign will begin in 2014 and will extend throughout the 2015 academic year.

Initially, the small-scale shuttle mock-up, including its drone systems, will be captive-carried by a helicopter.

In a second phase, it will be released from a helicopter at an altitude of 5,000 meters, which will enable testing of flight systems and the aerodynamics of the shuttle, in parallel of a wind tunnel testing campaign conducted in the US to validate aerodynamics.


For this test campaign, S3 will count on the technical and operational support of the North Bay Jack Garland Airport (YYB) and Canadore College, with its dedicated Aviation Technology Campus.

The campus benefits from funding from the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor) and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), which in turn enables Canadore College to support S3's mock-up test flights.

S3 continues to develop from its headquarters of Payerne, Switzerland. The company has expanded its network of industrial and academic partners, as well as its network of operation centers including Malaysia (Spaceport Malaysia), the United States (Spaceport Colorado and Kennedy Space Center) and the Canary Islands (S3 Spain).