Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle

The Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, usually called IXV, was a European Space Agency lifting-body re-entry experiment meant to validate technologies for future European reusable launchers. The craft was about 5 m long, 1.5 m high and 2.2 m wide, with a total mass of 1844 kg, and its shape was chosen to maximise internal volume for experiments. Thales Alenia Space of Torino was its contractor. It was launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, on 11 February 2015 on a suborbital path of roughly 76 km by 416 km. The planned profile began formal re-entry about 120 km up at 7700 m/s, steered by moving aerodynamic surfaces and thrusters down to Mach 2, then used parachutes and airbags for a soft landing in the Pacific Ocean. Its three project objectives were re-entry system demonstration, technology experimentation and technology validation. The flight lasted only a few hours and validated a number of re-entry technologies in flight.