[r.....t]

#ixv w ESTEC, NL.

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

IXV’s sleek lifting body hull gives a clue to its purpose: this November it will be launched 320 km into space on top of a Vega rocket, climbing up to 420 km before beginning a long glide back through the atmosphere.

In the process, IXV will gather data on reentry conditions to help guide the design of future spaceplanes.

IXV arrived at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, last week.

The spaceplane will now undergo a rigorous test campaign to confirm it is ready for flight. ESA’s centre is the largest satellite testing facility in Europe, with everything needed to recreate every aspect of the launch and space environment under one air-conditioned roof.

Trajektoria Lotu

ESA's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle will be injected into a suborbital path by a Vega rocket launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in autumn 2014. IXV will separate from Vega at an altitude of 320 km. It will attain an altitude of around 450 km, allowing it to reach a speed of 7.5 km/s when reentering the atmosphere at an altitude of 120 km – fully representative of any return mission from low orbit. It will collect a large amount of data during its hypersonic and supersonic flight, while being controlled by thrusters and aerodynamic flaps.

The craft will then deploy a parachute to slow its descent for a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean to await recovery and analysis.

The complete mission will last for approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes.

#esa #kosmosboners #spacefarming