Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

ESA’s Space Rider.
Credit: ESA

The European Space Agency’s reusable spacecraft — Space Rider — has completed a second round of aerial drop tests from a helicopter, testing the craft’s paraglider guidance, navigation and control algorithms.

Last month’s testing of Space Rider followed a drop-test campaign in 2024.

Testing to date has been held at the Salto di Quirra range (Poligono Interforze del Salto di Quirra – PISQ), in Sardinia, Italy.

This drop-test campaign was led by Thales Alenia Space Italia, prime contractor for Space Rider and responsible for the reentry module. The campaign was bolstered by industrial partners Sener, CIMSA, Teseo and Meteomatics. 

Objectives

The most recent two-week drop-test campaign had two objectives:

— qualification of the parachutes used to slow the spacecraft during descent

— testing the software that controls the parafoil, guiding the Space Rider’s reentry module to its precise landing site.

Space Rider models were dropped from a CH-47 Chinook Italian Army helicopter from altitudes ranging from 1 to 2.5 kilometers at Salto di Quirra.

Following drop test.
Image credit: Thales Alenia Space

The test campaign demonstrated that parafoil-assisted Space Rider will be able to land gently down to an accuracy of just under 500 feet (150 meters).

Following steps

A few more steps remain to complete the test verification of Space Rider’s descent and landing phase.

On the check-list is a system drop-test campaign, featuring a full mockup of the reentry module that will have the same weight, aerodynamic shape and landing gears. A final campaign will test landing stability by exploring worst-case scenarios of a Space Rider touchdown.

That test would utilize another model with a landing gear, accelerated on a roller-coaster-like rig and dropped onto a landing site. This “no rough landings allowed” campaign will ensure that the landing does not subject precious scientific payloads to excessive shocks.

Credit: ESA

Quick turnaround

The space-rated Space Rider is roughly the size of two minivans. Its missions, among others, range from pharmaceutical research to in-orbit manufacturing, to visiting orbital platforms.

Space Rider is intended to remain in Earth orbit for up to three months and then return through Earth’s atmosphere to precision-land on skids after a paraglider descent.

Once landed, Space Rider is designed for a quick turnaround, undergoing six months of maintenance before a return to space.

Image credit: ESA

A maiden voyage of the vehicle would use a Vega C+ booster, projected to fly in 2027.

Go to this video at:

https://dlmultimedia.esa.int/download/public/videos/2022/11/017/2211_017_AR_EN.mp4