IXV

Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle

Mission Profile

IXV (Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle) is ESA's uncrewed atmospheric reentry demonstrator, launched on 11 February 2015 aboard a Vega rocket from Kourou, designed to test lifting body technologies and aerodynamic control systems for future European reusable spacecraft. After reaching an altitude of 412 km, the vehicle reentered the atmosphere at 7.5 km/s, using its body shape and aerodynamic flaps rather than a parachute for controlled gliding reentry before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean after a 100-minute flight. IXV validated ceramic and ablative thermal protection systems, onboard guidance algorithms, and atmospheric aerodynamics that directly informed the design of the Space Rider program. The mission made Europe the third entity after the US and Russia to demonstrate a controlled lifting-body atmospheric reentry.