IXV
The Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) is a European Space Agency programme to build an experimental spacecraft capable of controlled atmospheric re-entry from low Earth orbit (approximately 300 km).
The aircraft is equipped with a heat shield, made by OMS, and is controlled by a rudder located in the rear of the machine.
The IXV is a carrier body without wings but with two flaps fixed in the fuselage extension to control its flight during atmospheric re-entry. Re-entry is conducted by keeping the nose up, exactly as with the Space Shuttle, while the final stage of descent is accomplished with a chain of parachutes ejected from the top of the vehicle. The spacecraft is 5 m long, 1.5 m high and 2.2 m wide with a mass of 2 tons. To control the flight profile, the IXV uses its two flaps and four 400 N thrust rocket engines located at the rear of the transport body. These thrusters have already been implemented on the upper floors of the Ariane 5 launcher and are liquid propellant (hydrazine). To fulfil its purpose as a technology demonstrator, the IXV is equipped with almost 250 sensors positioned at different points on the surface of the hull: 37 pressure sensors, 194 temperature sensors, 12 displacement sensors and 48 sensors that measure the forces experienced by the nacelle or other data such as the infrared camera positioned at the rear. These sensors are divided into two subsets: those used to analyse the aerodynamics of the vehicle and those involved in thermal stresses.
The flight of the European IXV spaceplane
The European Space Agency ESA has tested the IXV (Intermediate Experimental Vehicle) atmospheric re-entry demonstrator, which, after a 101-minute suborbital parabola, successfully ditched in the Pacific Ocean.
The mission began at 14.40 Italian time with take-off, on board a Vega launcher, from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Reaching an altitude of 340 km, the IXV separated from the last stage of the launcher, continuing in free flight up to an altitude of 412 km, after which it began the re-entry phase into the atmosphere. The spaceplane controlled its attitude thanks to two special rear ailerons, gliding and slowing down as it passed through the increasingly dense layers of the atmosphere. At an altitude of 26 km, the parachute braking sequence began until the ditching in the ocean, where the IXV was recovered by the deep-sea tug Nos Aries of the Livorno-based Neri Group. The re-entry phase was the main focus of this test, as more than 300 sensors recorded a large amount of data that were analysed immediately afterwards.
The data obtained are indispensable for the realisation of the PRIDE programme (Programme for Reusable In-orbit Demonstrator for Europe), which will see the development of a mini-shuttle (similar to the USAF’s X-37/B) with the capability of carrying out orbital missions and glide landing.
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