Europe's 1st reusable **** ecraft 'Space Rider' clears key hurdles on the road to launch
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Before Europe's new **** ecraft design can lift off on its first mission, the European **** e Agency must first test the hardest parts of bringing it home.
Space Rider, a novel **** ecraft concept from the European **** e Agency (ESA), is advancing toward its first flight, with new milestones tackling two of the vehicle's biggest challenges: surviving the heat of reentry and executing a precise landing back on Earth.
Engineers recently pushed the **** ecraft's thermal protection system to extreme conditions while also completing **** embly of a full-size drop-test model that will soon undergo a guided landing attempt. Together, the progress marks a shift from component-level validation toward mission simulation, as Europe moves closer to flying its first reusable orbital vehicle later this decade.
Space Rider is designed as an uncrewed laboratory that can stay in low Earth orbit for about two months before returning experiments and cargo to Earth. It can support microgravity research, technology demonstrations and on-orbit validation work, with the ability to return its contents for **** ysis back on the ground.
https://tech.yahoo.com/sci...
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Before Europe's new **** ecraft design can lift off on its first mission, the European **** e Agency must first test the hardest parts of bringing it home.
Space Rider, a novel **** ecraft concept from the European **** e Agency (ESA), is advancing toward its first flight, with new milestones tackling two of the vehicle's biggest challenges: surviving the heat of reentry and executing a precise landing back on Earth.
Engineers recently pushed the **** ecraft's thermal protection system to extreme conditions while also completing **** embly of a full-size drop-test model that will soon undergo a guided landing attempt. Together, the progress marks a shift from component-level validation toward mission simulation, as Europe moves closer to flying its first reusable orbital vehicle later this decade.
Space Rider is designed as an uncrewed laboratory that can stay in low Earth orbit for about two months before returning experiments and cargo to Earth. It can support microgravity research, technology demonstrations and on-orbit validation work, with the ability to return its contents for **** ysis back on the ground.
https://tech.yahoo.com/sci...
29 days ago