TheSpace Rider (SpaceReusableIntegratedDemonstrator forEuropeReturn) is a planneduncrewedorbitallifting bodyspaceplane aiming to provide theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) with affordable and routine access to space.[4][5][6] Space Rider will have the potential to allow experiments in microgravity, such as exposure of materials to outer space and in-orbit validation of technologies, as well as deployment of small satellites.[7] Itsmaiden flight is currently scheduled for 2027.[8]
Development of Space Rider is being led by the ItalianProgramme for Reusable In-orbit Demonstrator in Europe (PRIDE programme) in collaboration with ESA, and is the continuation of theIntermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) experience,[2][9] launched on 11 February 2015. The cost of this phase, not including the launcher, is at least US$36.7 million.[10] At the ESA Ministerial Council held in Seville in November 2019, the development of the Space Rider was subscribed by the participating member states with an allocation of €195.73 million.[11]
The qualification flight of Space Rider will take place in 2027. On completion of the two-month long maiden mission, Space Rider will return toEarth with the payloads stowed in its cargo bay.[7] The maiden flight will be followed by several missions to demonstrate a range of capabilities and orbits, before handing over the project to the private sector.[14]
The Space Rider design inherits technology developed for the earlierIntermediate eXperimental Vehicle, also within thePRIDE programme.[2][10][15] The design team considered the trade-offs of using only alifting body and also using optional wings or vertical fins.[9] It was then decided in 2017 that the design should optimise the internal volume of theVegarocket fairing, so its aerodynamic shape will be a simple lifting body, as tested on its predecessor, theIXV.[9] A 3-axis control duringreentry is achieved by the use of rear flaps.[9]
Space Rider is designed to launch atop theVega-C+ launch vehicle fromGuiana Space Centre, utilizing the newP160C first stage due to mass requirements.[8]The spacecraft is being designed to conduct missions up to two months long inlow Earth orbit with up to 600 kg[1] of cargo.[3][16] The re-entry module itself is atestbed for entry technologies as the IXV precursor was, so future improvements are envisioned,[17] including point-to-point flights, evenspace tourism.[10]
Space Rider's service module is a modified version of theVega-C AVUM+, which will extend the time that can be spent in orbit by at least two months before Space Rider returns with its cargo to Earth to land on the ground.[18] The Vega C Avum+ upper stage is upgraded with the addition of the AVUM Life Extension Kit (ALEK), developed byBeyond Gravity, which includes the two deployable solar wings.[19] The service module will provide power,attitude control and deorbit capability, and it will separate from the spacecraft just beforeatmospheric reentry.[6]
Space Rider will use a controllableparafoil for landing, as used by theNASA X-38 in 1999.
Uponatmospheric entry, the lifting body shape will decelerate the spacecraft to subsonic speed (belowMach 0.8), when one or twodrogue parachute will be deployed at about 15–12 km altitude to slow it further (to Mach 0.18 - 0.22)[16] Then, a controllable gliding parachute calledparafoil will be deployed to begin the controlled descent phase for a nearly horizontal touchdown (≈35 m/s) using no wheels.[16] The landing concept is similar to theNASA X-38 landing system.[16]
In April 2018, ESA released an Announcement of Opportunity (AoO) to fly small payloads on Space Rider's maiden flight.[7] By June 2019, the project was advancing towards theCritical Design Review (CDR) at the end of 2019.[6]
TheCritical Design Review (CDR) began in late 2019.[6] In late November 2019, the project was fully approved by ESA and will be funded mostly byItaly,[22][23]. An industrial reorganisation followed the ESA Ministerial Council held in 2019. To deal with it a design bridging phase was put in place with the System CDR planned in mid-2022.[1]
In December 2020, ESA signed contracts with co-prime contractorsThales Alenia Space andAvio for delivery of the Space Rider flight model, which in turn manage a consortium of more than 20 European companies operating in the space sector.[2] TheItalian Space Agency (ASI) subsequently contracted withVirgin Galactic for a suborbital research flight onSpaceShipTwo for research related to Space Rider.[24]
On 20 June 2023, the Space Rider programme proceeded into Phase D[25] of its development, allowing qualification and production to commence.[26]
In early August 2024, the firstparafoil guided landing tests were performed inSardinia by dropping a full-scale model from a helicopter.[27]
In November 2024,Portugal Space announced that the island ofSanta Maria has been chosen as the landing site for the inaugural flight of Space Rider.[20]
In June 2025, the second set of drop tests, focusing on autonomous control and using aCH-47 Chinook helicopter, was completed at theSalto di Quirra range inSardinia. This test campaign was originally planned for late 2024.[28]
In September 2025,Romania's National Institute for Aerospace Research (INCAS) has completed qualification testing of the Descent and Landing Test Model (DLRM)[29] and later delivered it toCIRA inCapua in October 2025.[30] This model will be used in the third and final drop test campaign, at that time expected to be conducted in the coming months at theSalto di Quirra testing range inSardinia.[29]
In February 2025,CIRA has announced the successful qualification of Space Rider's body flaps.[34]
In July 2025,CIRA has completed the qualification testing campaign of the nose cone, the largest single component of the re-entry module's thermal protection system with a diameter of 1.3 m.[35]
^abcdAeroshape Trade-Off and Aerodynamic Analysis of the Space RIDER Vehicle M. Marini, M. Di Clemente, G. Guidotti, G. Rufolo, O. Lambert, N. Joiner, D. Charbonnier, M.V. Pricop, M.G. Cojocaru, D. Pepelea, C. Stoica, and A. Denaro, 7th European Conference for Aeronautics and Space Sciences (EUCASS) 2017
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