Photos: Europe's IXV Reusable Space Plane Prototype

A European Vega rocket will carry ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle into space. The vehicle will then return to Earth to test a range of enabling systems and technologies for atmospheric re-entry.

On the June 19, 2013 the IXV Descent and Landing System Test was successfully performed off the east coast of Sardinia, Italy, at the Poligono Interforze Salto di Quirra.

On 19 June 2013, the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle successfully completed the descent and landing system test at the Poligono Interforze Salto di Quirra off the east coast of Sardinia in Italy.

European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle, a robotic space plane prototype, is shown under construction.

ESA\'s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle will test new systems and technologies for atmospheric re-entry.

The Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) project objectives tackle the basic European needs for reentry from LEO, consolidating the knowledge necessary for the development of any future European reentry system while allowing risk limitation. This image was released Nov. 21, 2012.

ESA activities aiming to improve European know-how in critical reentry technologies domain began with the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV). As a follow-up mission, PRIDE is proposed. It will focus on system and technology performance verification in all flight conditions (i.e. hypersonic, supersonic, transonic, subsonic). This will be achieved through an end-to-end European orbital mission with landing on a conventional runway. This image was released Nov. 21, 2012.

ESA activities aiming to improve European know-how in critical reentry technologies domain began with the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV).