IXV prototype hoisted onto ship. Credit: Neri - Livorno (I)
Artist’s view of parachute deployment.
Credit: ESA–J. Huart
Vega VV04 IXV liftoff.
Credit: ESA–S. Corvaja
ESA experimental IXV spaceplane completes research flight
An experimental vehicle to develop an autonomous
European reentry capability has completed its mission.
ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle flew a flawless
reentry and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean just west
of the Galapagos islands.
The IXV spaceplane lifted off at 13:40 GMT (10:40 local
time) on 11 February from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou,
French Guiana atop a Vega rocket. It separated from
Vega at an altitude of 348 km and continued up to 413
km. Reentering from this suborbital path, it recorded data
from more than 300 advanced and conventional sensors.
As it descended, the five-metre-long, two-tonne craft
manoeuvred to decelerate from hypersonic to supersonic
speed. The entry speed of 7.5 km/s at an altitude of 120
km created the same conditions as those for a vehicle
returning from low Earth orbit.
IXV glided through the atmosphere before parachutes
deployed to slow the descent further for a safe splashdown
in the Pacific Ocean. Balloons kept IXV afloat while the
recovery vessel hurried to pick it up.