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The New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin NCAP, publishes today the seventh crash tests results for 2025 with five stars for the Renault Kardian, and renewed five stars for the updated Volkswagen Taos.

The Renault Kardian, produced in Brazil, achieved five stars. The Kardian was tested in 2024, achieving four stars starting a new era for Renault in the region towards safer cars. Following the manufacturer’s excellence pursuit, the Renault Kardian was updated by adding Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) for Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) and submitted to Latin NCAP to assess those improvements. The updated Kardian offers 6 airbags and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as standard, and AEB as optional achieving 83.41% in Adult Occupant, 82.92% in Child Occupant, 72.96% in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users and 83.78% in Safety Assist. In 2024 Kardian was tested in frontal impact, side impact, pole side impact, whiplash, pedestrian protection, ESC, AEB city, AEB interurban and Speed Assist Systems (SAS). In 2025 Latin NCAP assessed the AEB for VRU which achieved full score and met availability requirements.

The frontal impact showed stable structure and unstable footwell area, marginal chest protection for the driver and adequate for the passenger’s chest. Side impact protection showed robust performance thanks to the standard side body and curtain airbags, showing adequate chest protection and good to the rest of the body. Pole impact test showed marginal chest protection for the adult. Whiplash protection was marginal. Both child occupants were installed rearward facing using ISOFIX anchorages, following global best practices, showing overall good protection. The 3 years old dummy head showed exposure in the side impact test without critical values. Pedestrian Protection showed mostly good and adequate protection for the head and poor head protection towards the windscreen and A-Pillars. Upper leg protection was weak and poor, and lower leg showed good protection. AEB city and interurban showed good performance, meeting Latin NCAP availability requirements. AEB for VRU achieved full score performance, meeting Latin NCAP’s availability requirements. This result is valid as from VIN 93YRJF000TJ403319 and production date August 14, 2025. The model was tested as a voluntary decision of the manufacturer.

The Volkswagen Taos, produced in Mexico, achieved five stars. Until the current year, the model was also produced in Argentina and achieved five stars result back in 2021. The Taos was updated with a facelift and equipment availability and following a voluntary decision of the manufacturer the model was reassessed. The updated Taos offers 6 airbags, ESC and AEB as standard achieving 90.69% in Adult Occupant, 89.80% in Child Occupant, 67.67% in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users and 92.15% in Safety Assist. The Taos was tested in frontal impact, side impact, side pole impact, whiplash, pedestrian protection, ESC, Moose, AEB tests back in 2021. In 2025 following the facelift, Latin NCAP reassessed the pedestrian protection as the front of the car was redesigned and AEB technologies and tested the Blind Spot Detection (BSD) and Lane Support Systems (LSS) technologies, which are offered as optional.

The Taos showed stable structure and stable footwell area in the frontal test showing marginal protection to the driver chest and adequate protection to the passenger chest. In the rear impact neck protection was good. Side impact showed full protection and side pole side impact showed good protection to the head, abdomen and pelvis and adequate to the chest. Child occupant showed full protection in front and side impact. Pedestrian protection upper leg is still mostly poor and should be improved. AEB VRU showed good performance but did not reach full points. AEB City scored full points and AEB Interurban showed good performance but not reached full score. The BSD was also tested and reach full score in performance.  Lane Support Systems, did not score due to not being a default on function. This result is valid as from VIN 3VV9P6B26SM000641 and production date October 28, 2024. The model was tested as a voluntary decision of the manufacturer.

Alejandro Furas, Secretary General of Latin NCAP said:

“Congratulations to Renault for its first five-star result in Latin NCAP. Its commitment to safer cars became clear by improving a popular model, the Kardian, from four to five stars in such a short period of time. Latin NCAP looks forward for Renault’s new models, and the next five stars results from the brand. Taos facelift confirms once again Volkswagen’s policy of top safety and their constant commitment to show their achievements to consumers. The Taos is the first model in achieving five stars twice under the same assessment protocols following a facelift and updates. It is important that consumers receive independent information about safety in order to make decisions when buying their next car. Latin NCAP calls all governments to implement a mandatory labelling with star ratings to make consumer information available for all car buyers and fleet managers.”

Stephan Brodziak, Latin NCAP Chairman said:

“Latin NCAP acknowledges the progress made by Renault and Volkswagen in these new results. The improvement of the Renault Kardian and the redesign of the Volkswagen Taos demonstrate that when manufacturers make a genuine commitment to protecting lives, the entire region benefits, as it sends a strong market signal to the industry to establish necessary and healthy competition for vehicle safety in Latin America and the Caribbean. Improvements in vehicle safety are a systematic intervention for public health with a proven impact: safer vehicles mean fewer deaths, fewer serious injuries, and fewer families affected by irreversible consequences, as well as a reduced economic burden for governments. At Latin NCAP, we celebrate these achievements and encourage the industry to continue along this path, further strengthening the protection provided to consumers in our region.”

Renault Kardian (6 airbags)
Read the full crash test report
Watch the crash test video
Download crash test images 

Volkswagen Taos (6 airbags)
Read the full crash test report
Watch the crash test video
Download crash test images

LONDON – London-headquartered ACME Space has unveiled plans to begin hardware tests of its balloon-launched orbital manufacturing vehicle Hyperion next year and hopes to commence commercial operations in 2027. 

The Hyperion Orbital Factory Vehicle (OFV) is designed to carry up to 200 kilograms to low Earth orbit (LEO), using a hydrogen-filled balloon to overcome the thickest part of the atmosphere. Once in orbit, Hyperion OFV will serve as a microgravity manufacturing facility for biomedical and materials companies.

The company, which won this year’s NASA LunaRecycle Challenge in two categories, is a brainchild of Czech entrepreneur Tomas Guryca, who self-funded the company after selling a previous AI venture. He said that the use of advanced AI-aided design technologies has enabled the company to move quickly, cutting the development timeline by 80% and the development cost by as much as 80% compared to developing the same project without AI. Within two years, the team designed and validated a balloon system that will lift the orbital factory into the stratosphere as well as a returnable launcher that will take the payload into orbit. 

“We are preparing for a drop test in Oman in Q1 or Q2 of 2026,” Guryca told SpaceNews. “After that, we will do some engine tests and we hope to have our first suborbital flight test by the end of 2026 from the Saxavord spaceport in the U.K.”

The company is raising funds to scale operations, and is cooperating with two undisclosed pharmaceutical firms to develop protein crystal growth boxes for its first orbital missions in 2027. 

The Hyperion OFV uses a mix of balloon and rocket technology to reach orbit. It begins its ascent using a hydrogen balloon, which carries it up through the lower atmosphere. At the stratospheric altitude of 30 kilometers (19 miles), the Hyperion micro-rocket would separate from its hydrogen balloon and fire its liquid-oxygen/methane engine.

The rocket’s main stage would then release the orbital capsule at an altitude of 100 kilometers (60 miles), considered to be the border of space, and the capsule would then continue under its own propulsion to the target orbit in LEO some 300 to 500 km above Earth’s surface. The orbital capsule returns to Earth with its cargo after two to three weeks and is expected to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean. Guryca said all parts of the system are designed to be reusable up to 15 times. 

The company plans to sell capacity on Hyperion OFV at $5,000 to $10,000 per kilogram and hopes to achieve a cadence of up to 20 missions per year by 2030.

In addition to protein crystals, ACME Space wants to expand its offering to optical fiber manufacturers, focusing on the fluoride glass ZBLAN optical fibers that have previously been manufactured on the International Space Station. 

The company has no plans to operate as a launcher service, focusing solely on selling payload capacity to companies desiring to produce new materials and compounds in orbit. 

“There is a lot of competition from rocket launchers and prices are really going down,” Guryca said. “They are going to get really low with Starship and for us, since we only have 200 kilos of payload, offering launch wouldn’t be enough.”

Guryca said using a stratospheric balloon to overcome the thickest part of Earth’s atmosphere helps keep cost down. The idea has previously been explored by Spain-based Zero2Infinity, which has been developing a balloon-based small satellite launcher called the Bloostar. That company, however, has struggled with funding. 

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