Tag: IXV
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IXV’s Pride: Europe’s spaceplane homecoming prelude to future goals
ESA’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV) is now enjoying the final leg of her mission, onboard the Nos Aries recovery ship. The vehicle – part of ESA’s future spaceplane aspirations – was plucked out of the Pacific Ocean at the conclusion of her suborbital adventure this month and is now being shipped back to her home in Italy,…
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Engineers to assess reusability of Europe’s wingless space plane
Europe’s IXV re-entry demonstrator is lifted out of the Pacific Ocean onto the Nos Aries recovery ship after Wednesday’s test flight. Credit: ESA–Tommaso Javidi, 2015 Back on Earth after a whirlwind journey 20,000 miles around the world, an experimental re-entry demonstrator is on the way to Europe for post-flight inspections aimed at gathering design inputs…
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Fire in the hole! Vega fires away from jungle spaceport
A solid-fueled Vega launcher zipped away from its launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, with Europe’s IXV mission Wednesday, boosting a miniature lifting body spacecraft on a globe-spanning test flight to validate technologies for future space transportation systems. The fourth flight of the European Vega rocket — and its first in full daylight — blasted…
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Video: Europe’s IXV prepared for launch
This time lapse video chronicles several days of activity to ready the European Space Agency’s sleek re-entry demonstrator for flight. The Intermediate Experimental Vehicle, or IXV, will blast off from a tropical launch pad in French Guiana, ride a Vega rocket to nearly 17,000 mph (7.5 kilometers per second), then steer itself back to Earth…
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Video: Europe’s IXV prepared for launch
This time lapse video chronicles several days of activity to ready the European Space Agency’s sleek re-entry demonstrator for flight. The Intermediate Experimental Vehicle, or IXV, will blast off from a tropical launch pad in French Guiana, ride a Vega rocket to nearly 17,000 mph (7.5 kilometers per second), then steer itself back to Earth…
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European space plane flies around the world on test flight
Artist’s concept of the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle. Credit: ESA Europe launched a sleek new space plane more than 250 miles above Earth on Wednesday, testing its maneuverability, on-board guidance systems, and a next-generation heat shield as the experimental vehicle glided through the atmosphere toward a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The test flight marked…
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European space plane flies around the world on test flight
Artist’s concept of the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle. Credit: ESA Europe launched a sleek new space plane more than 250 miles above Earth on Wednesday, testing its maneuverability, on-board guidance systems, and a next-generation heat shield as the experimental vehicle glided through the atmosphere toward a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The test flight marked…
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Flight timeline for ESA’s re-entry demonstrator
Photo credit: ESA-J.Huart An automobile-sized prototype space plane is ready for an around-the-world test flight to demonstrate technologies to fly on a future orbital space plane, reusable rocket stages, and interplanetary sample return probes. The $170 million Intermediate Experimental Vehicle is set for launch aboard a Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Center, a European-run…
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Vega rocket launches IXV spaceplane – Mission Complete
The European Space Agency is flying a reentry demonstration mission Wednesday with its Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV). Boosted by Europe’s lightweight Vega rocket, the IXV flew a suborbital mission culminating in landing and recovery in the Pacific Ocean after around 102 minutes of flight. Liftoff is occurred at 13:40 UTC from Kourou, French Guiana. VEGA…
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ESA re-entry vehicle could pave way for reusable launcher
Artist’s concept of the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle. Credit: ESA European engineers are eager to test an experimental re-entry demonstrator Wednesday to validate technologies for future robotic exploration probes, winged space planes, and reusable rocket boosters. The European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle — about the size of a family car — will take off at…