IXV reentry demonstration

ESA’s IXV mission tested autonomous controlled reentry under conditions representative of return from low Earth orbit. Vega flight VV04 launched the uncrewed lifting body on 11 February 2015 onto a suborbital path. Guidance using thrusters and aerodynamic flaps, thermal-protection experiments, parachute deployment, flotation and recovery in the Pacific Ocean supplied vehicle and ground-station data for post-flight analysis.