Europe’s IXV Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle is completing a series tests allowing the mission to move ahead towards launch in 2014.
Flight testing of the descent and landing system is planned for the first quarter of 2013. It aims to verify the behaviour of the complete descent and landing system chain, ensuring the recovery of the vehicle.
A full-scale prototype is undergoing integration at Italy’s CIRA research centre, including flight hardware and software. It will be dropped from a helicopter at an altitude of 3 km, splashing down in the Mediterranean Sea in the PISQ test range off the coast of Sardinia.