Space Rider

Flyaway

Flyaway

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I bet some thought this project was dead.

These stunning new renders of @esa_SpaceRider were recently shared by the agency's Director of Space Transportation Daniel Neuenschwander. I can't wait for the maiden launch.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1570328144871137280
View: https://twitter.com/andrewparsonson/status/1570328144871137280

Also this from a little while back:

I am away for a much-needed week-long vacation. So, this week I've set up a few automated posts with some of my old infographics with updated info, starting with @esa_SpaceRider. The graphic has the updated maiden launch date and a new section outlining its current status.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1551447284071686144
View: https://twitter.com/andrewparsonson/status/1551447284071686144
 
I am pretty sure that EASA has made as much project video like this in 2022 than there was actual space flights from SpaceX...
 
To orbit and back with Space Rider

Europe’s bid to deliver a return-to-Earth service for in-orbit transportation and research projects is rapidly taking shape, with teams working on the Space Rider spacecraft gearing up for a series of drop tests in 2023. Drop tests with small-scale models will be followed by a full-scale test in anticipation of inaugural flight towards the end of 2024.

Engineering teams recently concluded the project’s critical design review and expect to consolidate the design early in 2023. Work is also underway to finalise selection of payloads that will fly on the first flight.

The reusable Space Rider will be a so-called lifting body vehicle, about the size of two minivans. It is designed to land with 150m accuracy under a steerable parachute known as a parafoil, which will be the subject of some of the upcoming drop tests. Launch will be by the Vega-C rocket, which completed its inaugural flight in July 2022 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
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Flyaway said:
To orbit and back with Space Rider

Europe’s bid to deliver a return-to-Earth service for in-orbit transportation and research projects is rapidly taking shape, with teams working on the Space Rider spacecraft gearing up for a series of drop tests in 2023. Drop tests with small-scale models will be followed by a full-scale test in anticipation of inaugural flight towards the end of 2024.

Engineering teams recently concluded the project’s critical design review and expect to consolidate the design early in 2023. Work is also underway to finalise selection of payloads that will fly on the first flight.

The reusable Space Rider will be a so-called lifting body vehicle, about the size of two minivans. It is designed to land with 150m accuracy under a steerable parachute known as a parafoil, which will be the subject of some of the upcoming drop tests. Launch will be by the Vega-C rocket, which completed its inaugural flight in July 2022 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Is it me or does Space Rider look like a smaller and unmanned successor to Hermes? It certainly looks similar, I wonder how much of Hermes technology went into Space Rider?
 
FighterJock said:
Flyaway said:
To orbit and back with Space Rider

Europe’s bid to deliver a return-to-Earth service for in-orbit transportation and research projects is rapidly taking shape, with teams working on the Space Rider spacecraft gearing up for a series of drop tests in 2023. Drop tests with small-scale models will be followed by a full-scale test in anticipation of inaugural flight towards the end of 2024.

Engineering teams recently concluded the project’s critical design review and expect to consolidate the design early in 2023. Work is also underway to finalise selection of payloads that will fly on the first flight.

The reusable Space Rider will be a so-called lifting body vehicle, about the size of two minivans. It is designed to land with 150m accuracy under a steerable parachute known as a parafoil, which will be the subject of some of the upcoming drop tests. Launch will be by the Vega-C rocket, which completed its inaugural flight in July 2022 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Is it me or does Space Rider look like a smaller and unmanned successor to Hermes? It certainly looks similar, I wonder how much of Hermes technology went into Space Rider?
Click to expand...
I saw someone comment that it looked like a project thirty years in the making, which tally’s with your comment.
 
Good news for Space Rider entering phase D, and getting ready for drop tests. I wonder if ESA will do a manned variant next once they get the okay for production for Space Rider, I really should think so.
 
Space Rider Completes Initial Ground Segment Testing (European Spaceflight)

Teams from Telespazio, ALTEC, and Thales Alenia Space have successfully completed the first ground segment tests for the European Space Agency’s reusable Space Rider spacecraft.
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ESA’s Space Rider likely to launch third quarter of 2025, program manager says (NASASpaceflight.com)

Space Rider was initially scheduled to complete its maiden flight in 2023, however, several delays have pushed the date back. According to Galli, the new target date is now the third quarter of 2025.
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I am flabbergasted that they haven't started testing yet with the most critical part of the mission: horizontal landing under a parafoil.

All those assumptions just to postpone solving critical details that would save a lot flagging them as erroneous before the full pot of money is empty.
 
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