ESA VV04 Vega Rocket Launches IXV Spacecraft

Replay of the liftoff of Vega VV04 with ESA's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, IXV, launched from Kourou, French Guiana on 11 February 2015.

IXV was launched 340 km into space atop a Vega rocket, VV04, from Kourou in French Guiana on 11 February 2015.

After separation from Vega, IXV coasted to 412 km before beginning a punishing glide back through the atmosphere.

During its autonomous flight, IXV tested the latest technologies and critical systems to extend Europe’s capability for space exploration.

ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) spaceplane on display

This drop-test model of ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) spaceplane will be one of the star attractions of the Sunday, 5 October ESTEC Open Day.

This replica was built to be dropped from a helicopter and parachuted into the Mediterranean, to ensure the flight model would survive splashdown at the end of its plunge from space.

The actual spaceplane will fly on a Vega launcher this November, coasting as high as 450 km before gliding back to Earth. In the process, it will gather valuable data on atmospheric reentry conditions.

The flight model was, until this week, being tested for space only a few tens of metres away from its drop-test twin, within the cleanroom environment of the ESTEC Test Centre.

With its test programme complete, it has now been flown to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana to begin its launch campaign.

Having been designed for a sea splashdown, the drop-test model can readily withstand the Dutch weather. Visitors can view it in its new position outside the Test Centre throughout the Open Day.

ESA IXV Experimental Space Plane in transit

The ESA Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle is ready to fly and left the Netherlands today for the launch site in French Guiana.

In preparation for its arrival, the first stage of the Vega rocket that will loft IXV has already been moved to the launch pad.

This marks the beginning of the campaign for Vega's fourth flight, planned for mid-November.

Once Vega is fully assembled, IXV will be placed inside the protective fairing.

The spaceplane will reach an altitude of around 420 km before starting its descent.

Using its sleek aerodynamic shape, thrusters and two tail flaps, it will return through the atmosphere as if from a low orbit.

The measurements collected by IXV during its hypersonic and supersonic flight to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean will be invaluable for designing future reentry vehicles.

It is not possible to test this function and gather information in the laboratory. It can only be gained from a test flight.

Extensive testing over July and August at ESA's Technical Centre in Noordwijk shows that IXV can withstand the demanding conditions during ascent.

The craft was exposed to the noise and vibrations it will experience at liftoff and the shock of separation from Vega.

Then, it had a thorough health check to make sure that the systems and structures were unaffected by the tests.

A series of mission simulations verified that the guidance, navigation and control system and all the functions managed by the onboard computer are working well.

One simulation included the Mission Control Centre in Turin monitoring the telemetry.

ESA Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) undergoing final ground tests - videos

The European Space Agency on Tuesday put the final touches to its first-ever "space plane" before blasting it into sub-orbit for tests aimed at eventually paving the way to the continent's first space shuttle.

ESA’s IXV Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle is removed from its protective container, safely inside the cleanroom environment of the Agency’s Technical Centre.

Credit: ESA

Assembled in Italy, the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) is undergoing final ground tests at the ESA's headquarters in Noordwijk, north of The Hague, before being shipped to Kourou in French Guiana later this month.

On November 18 the sneaker-shaped IXV will take off aboard ESA's Vega rocket to a height of 450 kilometres (280 miles) where it will go into sub-orbital flight.

Set to fly for 100 minutes, the IXV will then re-enter Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 28,000 km/h over the Pacific Ocean, plunge into the water and then be picked up by a ship.

Bristling with 300 sensors, the IXV will collect myriad data including on what scientists refer to as aerothermodynamics, the heat exchange in gasses and solid surfaces at very high speed, usually supersonic flight.

The data will tell ESA's scientists how the IXV's structure holds up, as well as how its shape performs aerodynamically under extreme conditions.


"The IXV is the starting point and the mission is of huge importance for the future of space shuttles for Europe," Giorgio Tumino, the craft's mission manager, told journalists.

"This mission's key objective is to acquire the capability to come back to earth from orbit," he said.

Built from high-tech ceramics and carbon-fibre, as well as ordinary cork, the IXV is 5.0 metres (16 feet) long and 2.2 metres wide, the same size as a medium-sized car.

The plane could be adapted in future to carry astronauts, Tumino told AFP.

The IXV was developed over five years at a cost of 150 million euros ($193 million).

"If Europe for instance wants to bring back astronauts from the International Space Station to the ground, this (test flight) is a fundamental step," Tumino said.

"We cannot put a person on board a spacecraft without testing its capability to survive re-entry into the earth's atmosphere," he added.

ESA: Europe to Launch Robotic Space Plane Prototype in November

Artist's impression of the European Space Agency's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV).

Credit: ESA/J.Huart

The launch of a robotic space plane prototype in November could pave the way toward the creation of a reusable cargo vehicle that would survive the blistering re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, according to the European Space Agency.

ESA officials plan to launch the unmanned space plane, called the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV), on a Vega rocket in early November.

The flight plan calls for Vega to make an eastward flight, different than its usual polar orbit track, to release IXV into a suborbital path that would end in the Pacific Ocean.

Officials with the space agency hope to eventually use the reusable space place as an automated vehicle that will fly through the atmosphere aerodynamically, controlled by thrusters and its surfaces, then splash down safely in the sea.

Technicians do final tests on the European Space Agency's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) ahead of its expected launch in November 2014. 

Credit: ESA

"In this mission we are not only monitoring the spacecraft all along its autonomous flight, but also tracking its progress back to Earth to a particular spot, this is different [than] what we are used to," Giorgio Tumino, the project manager for IXV, said in a statement.

IXV will include sensors and infrared cameras to examine how heating is distributed across the belly of the spacecraft.

The space plane will also fly with new technologically advanced features.

"The technical advancements that have been made since the first experiments with our Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator in 1996 are huge," Jose Longo, ESA's head of aerothermodynamics, said in the same statement.

"This is the first flight demonstration of features such as highly advanced thermal structures: thrusters and flaps that are part of the control system, and the 300 sensors and infrared camera to map the heating all along the spacecraft from the nose to the flaps. These things just cannot be tested in the same way in laboratories."



ESA is also going to test an infrared camera on its final automated transfer vehicle (ATV), called Georges Lemaitre, on a mission launching to the International Space Station Tuesday (July 29).

The ATV is designed to break up in Earth's atmosphere during re-entry after it leaves the space station about six months after it docks, according to ESA.

For the first time, ESA plans to track the spacecraft's re-entry using a special infrared camera.

The camera will transmit information to a special pod designed to survive re-entry, which will then send the information on to Earth through the Iridium satellite network.

ESA's IXV atmospheric reentry demonstrator ready for final tests

The IXV will separate from Vega at an altitude of 320 kilometers, then continue its ascent to 412 kilometers. 

It will then begin its reentry, during which experimental data will be collected by the spacecraft's complete instrument suite. 

During atmospheric reentry, it will reach a speed of approximately 7.7 km/s at an altitude of 120 km, a typical profile for reentry from low Earth orbit.

IXV (Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle), the ESA's atmospheric reentry demonstrator developed by Thales Alenia Space, has finished development, and is now completing integration at Thales Alenia Space's clean rooms in Turin.

European Space Agency's experimental reentry vehicle IXV (Intermediate Experimental Vehicle), passed its landing test on June 19, 2013

The spacecraft will be delivered to ESA's ESTEC center in the Netherlands, where it will undergo final testing before being shipped to the launch site at the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

The IXV demonstrator features advanced aerodynamics due to its lifting body design, which also maximizes maneuverability.

It is fitted with a sophisticated guidance, navigation and control system that uses automated control surfaces during the atmospheric reentry phase., plus a heat shield to withstand the searing heat of reentry.

Thales Alenia Space Italia is in charge of the IXV vehicle design, development and integration and heads a consortium of the main European industries, research centers and universities. Italy holds the leading role.

The project was strongly supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), which also provides technical assistance to the project and contributes to both the ground segment, with the Malindi base services, and the mission control, with its own equipment placed at the disposal of the Altec Mission Control Center.

This to confirm that reentry systems are of top priority in space development in Italy.

The launch, using Europe's new Vega light launcher, is scheduled for October 2014.

The IXV will separate from Vega at an altitude of 320 kilometers, then continue its ascent to 412 kilometers.

It will then begin its reentry, during which experimental data will be collected by the spacecraft's complete instrument suite.

During atmospheric reentry, it will reach a speed of approximately 7.7 km/s at an altitude of 120 km, a typical profile for reentry from low Earth orbit (for example, from the space station's orbit).

The mission will last approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. Following the parachute descent phase, it will culminate with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, where the spacecraft will be recovered by a specially equipped ship.

The ground segment is being developed at the same time. The Mission Control Center, developed and operated by ALTEC in Turin, will be at the heart of the entire mission.

Luigi Maria Quaglino

"The design and construction of this technology demonstrator clearly establishes Thales Alenia Space as the European benchmark in space transport and reentry systems," said Luigi Maria Quaglino, Senior Vice President for Exploration and Science at Thales Alenia Space.

"It also paves the way for further developments leading to next-generation systems."

ESA Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV): Flotation Aids Fail to deploy on Splashdown

ESA tested splashdown on its Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV), a wingless body with movable rear flaps for control, on June 19th. Review found that parachutes provided such a gentle landing that the inflators never detected the splashdown.Credit: ESA