Hermes (spacecraft)

Hermès
Artist's impression of Hermes (ESA)
Country	France
Contract award	November 1987
Status	Project cancelled
First flight	Not built
Crew members	Three astronauts
Time spent in space	planned 30 to 90 days

Hermes was a proposed spaceplane designed by the French Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) in 1975, and later by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was superficially similar to the American Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar and the larger Space Shuttle.

In January 1985, France proposed to proceed with Hermes development under the auspices of the ESA. Hermes was to have been part of a manned space flight program. It would have been launched using an Ariane 5 expendable launch system. In November 1987, the project was approved; it was to commence an initial pre-development phase from 1988 to 1990, after which the authorisation to proceed to full-rate development was to depend on the outcome of this phase. The project was subject to numerous delays and funding issues. In 1992, Hermes was cancelled, in part due to unachievable cost and performance goals, as well as the formation of a partnership with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (RKA), which reduced the demand for an independent manned spaceplane. As a result, no Hermes shuttles were ever built.

During the 1960s and 1970s, there was increasing recognition within European nations that an increasing level of international cooperation would be necessary in order to embark upon larger space projects. In 1973, the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) - a precursor to the European Space Agency (ESA) - commenced development of an new civilian heavy expendable launch system, later known as the Ariane rocket. Some members of the ESA, such as the French space agency Centre National D'études Spatiales (CNES), held ambitions of greater capability and autonomy in space affairs to avoid an overreliance upon external partners, such as the activities and decisions of the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and envisaged the deployment of a European-built human-capable space vehicle that would operate in conjunction with other ESA assets, such as Ariane.