The first full-size test model of the European Space Agency’s reusable spacecraft Space Rider is complete is now complete. This video shows the model being finalised at the Italian Aerospace Research Centre in Capua, Italy.

The drop-test model was built in Craiova, Romania, at Romania’s National Institute for Aerospace Research ‘Elie Carafoli’ (INCAS) before being shipped to the Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA) in Capua, Italy. CIRA is responsible for the design, integration, and implementation of the drop test.

Roughly the size of a mini-van, the drop-test model is a full-size stand-in for the 4.6-m long reentry module, Space Rider lands on skis with the landing gear permanently open on this model as the mechanism is not part of the drop test.

Space Rider is set to be the first reusable European spacecraft. The uncrewed robotic laboratory will stay in low orbit for about two months. Space Rider’s cargo bay will allow for all manner of experiments and operations to be run. At the end of its missions, Space Rider reentry module will return to Earth, gliding under a parafoil to land on a runway.