The August stratospheric drop test of the Italian aerospace centre CIRA's Unmanned Space Vehicle (USV) has been delayed to later this year because of adverse weather conditions.
The 65,600ft (20,000m) drop was to have taken place off the Italian space agency ASI's stratospheric balloon launch base in Sicily last month.
The drop test has been delayed once already, to August, because of the Sardinian government's opposition to the upgrading of a military base from which the USV was to be launched.
The 1,250kg (2,750lb) USV is an 8m-long supersonic flying laboratory with a 3.5m wingspan. The maiden flight will be the first of four balloon drops. Each will see an increase in velocity from Mach 1 up to about M2, with a recoverable water landing.
The programme of four flights and construction of two USV vehicles is costing €31 million ($39.6 million). The vehicles are being built under CIRA's guidance by Carlo Gavazzi Space, Space Software Italia, Techno Systems Developments and Vitrociset.
The USV is Italy's candidate reusable launch vehicle demonstrator for the European Space Agency's future launcher studies.
It would be superseded by the Unmanned Space Vehicle-Experimental (USV-X) re-entry vehicle, which could fly in 2010. The USV-X will be launched on a suborbital trajectory by ESA's Vega launcher or an Indian booster.
Source: Flight International
