ESA's IXV Demonstrates Reusability

February 16, 2015
The Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) was installed on its payload adapter Jan. 26 in preparation for launch atop a Vega rocket from Europe's French Guiana spaceport in Kourou, on the northeastern coast of South America.
Credit: European Space Agency
The IXV is a 5-meter-long, 1.5-meter-high and 2.2-meter-wide wingless spaceplane. At nearly 2 metric tons, it is roughly the size of a car. IXV's outer-to-inner layers comprise: Thermal protective shells made of ceramics and ablatives to resist the extreme heat of reentry; structural panels made of carbon-fiber reinforced polymer to hold inner elements in place during launch and landing; and functional and experimental subsystems equipment. The components, from front to back, include avionics, parachute and flotation devices, and thrusters and flaps.
Credit: European Space Agency
The lifting-body IXV encapsulated inside the Vega light launcher's rocket fairing at Europe's Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.
Credit: European Space Agency
Initially slated to launch in November 2014, IXV was delayed owing to safety concerns related to the Vega rocket's unorthodox flight profile, which took the rocket and spacecraft east over the town of Kourou, rather than the more traditional route north over open water. To address these aprehensions, the mission was slipped to February 2015.
Credit: European Space Agency
The IXV mission marked the fourth straight success of Italy's new Vega light launcher—a first among European rockets. Managed by European launch consortium Arianespace, the Italian-led Vega has flown a different flight profile for each mission since its February 2012 debut.
Credit: European Space Agency
On June 23, 2014, the IXV recovery ship Nos Aries and its crew performed a practice run off the coast of Tuscany, Italy, where they retrieved a prototype of the suborbital lifting-body spaceplane. A crane dropped the nearly 2-metric-ton vehicle into the water so the crew could practice tricky maneuvers in preparation for the real thing. The rehearsal even allowed for an upside-down splashdown. A crew from the Italian company NERI were controlling the recovery ship while the prototype was carefully hoisted aboard.
Credit: European Space Agency
During its 1-hr., 40-min. suborbital flight, IXV collected a large amount of data in both hypersonic and supersonic phases, while being controlled by thrusters and aerodynamic flaps. The vehicle glided through the atmosphere, maneuvering to slow its speed before parachutes deployed to further ease its descent for a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Flotation balloons were used to prevent IXV from sinking while awaiting recovery.
Credit: European Space Agency
Hoisted aboard the Nos Aries, IXV is being sent to ESA's Estec facility in the Netherlands for further analysis. Mastering reentry technologies could open a new chapter for Europe, as such capabilities are the cornerstone for reusable launcher stages, sample return from other planets and crew return from space.
Credit: European Space Agency
The evolution of IXV is now being considered within the ESA Pride (Program for Reusable In-orbit Demonstration for Europe), focusing on an affordable reusable craft for operating and servicing payloads in orbit, before returning to touch down on a conventional runway. Preliminary studies show the possibility of an affordable vehicle capable of operating in a wide range of orbital inclinations, with limited technological risk based on the knowledge gained from IXV.
Credit: European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) IXV spaceplane lifted off at 10:40 a.m. local time Feb. 11 from Europe’s French Guiana spaceport in Kourou. Lofted atop an Italian Vega rocket, the experimental technology demonstrator separated from its launcher at an altitude of 340 km and continued up to 412 km. Reentering from this suborbital path, it recorded a vast amount of data from more than 300 advanced and conventional sensors. As the 5-meter, 1,840-kg craft maneuvered to decelerate from hypersonic to supersonic speed, its reentry was recorded at 7.5 km/per sec. at an altitude of 120 km—the same conditions as those for a vehicle returning from low Earth orbit. The IXV splashed down in the Pacific Ocean just west of the Galapagos islands, where it was retrieved by Italy's Nos Aries recovery ship.

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