The European Space Agency's Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV) programme will begin its preliminary design review on 4 November with a test flight target of 2012.
Launched by ESA's new Vega rocket in 2012, IXV will reach an altitude of 450km (279 miles) before returning at a speed of 26,850km/h (16,700mph), equivalent to re-entry from low-Earth orbit.
The project started in 2005 and will demonstrate re-entry technologies including thermal protection systems, guidance, navigation and hot structures.
The vehicle will have about 600 sensors to record its performance. It has completed its development phases A and B and following the preliminary design review, phase C and phase D activities will begin in January.
At the 59th International Astronautical Congress, in Glasgow, UK from 29 September to 3 October, a paper on IXV's progress said: "Pending a detailed [technological readiness level] assessment, a window design [may be added to the demonstrator]."
ESA could use the IXV experience to create a safety and reliability framework for future non-destructive re-entry vehicles.
Before IXV ESA's aero-thermodynamic experimental re-entry vehicle called Expert will be launched in 2010 from the Pacific Ocean by Russia's submarine-based Volna rocket and land on the Kamchatka peninsula in Siberia by parachute. Expert's critical design review is planned before the end of this year.
The IXV mission has been identified as a test flight that can contribute to the development of capabilities for the joint ESA, Russian manned capsule programme, Crew Space Transportation System.
Watch an animation of the IXV's test flight at Rob Coppinger's Hyperbola blog
Source: Flight International
