Image courtesy of S-3.

...satellite launch system. The first launch is planned for 2017. The system involves air-launching a reusable lifting body-like launch vehicle from the top of an Airbus A300, which will, in turn, release a disposable third stage. The launch system is closely based on Dassault's airborne reusable hypersonic vehicle (VEHRA) concept, which the company has been proposing for several years but has had little success in acquiring interested parties.

The S-3 system will launch up to 250kg (551lb) into LEO. The company intends to build and flight test a mockup of the second stage in 2014—a flight-ready spacecraft will be under assembly by 2016 with the launch in 2017. A deal with Spaceport Malaysia was signed on the same day as the launch vehicle's public unveiling. The company is associated with a number of notable people within the spaceflight industry, including Switzerland's first astronaut, Claude Nicollier.