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.
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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?
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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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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt3mpkJku8c

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2024/11/Space_Rider_drone_inspection

In addition, hardware for the first Space Rider vehicle was delivered in December.

Switzerland’s Beyond Gravity has delivered the ALEK structure for the European Space Agency’s reusable Space Rider spacecraft to the Service Module prime contractor Avio.
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Late last week, Beyond Gravity announced that it had delivered the ALEK structure for the first Space Rider vehicle.
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https://europeanspaceflight.com/beyond-gravity-delivers-key-elements-of-esas-space-rider-vehicle/ [Dec 23]
 
Do I am the only one that see that a weird and costly mode of operandi? Couldn't a retractable and fix set of camera has delivered the same?
 
Space Rider blueprint
05/11/2025

Space Rider blueprint poster showing its dimensions and components.

Space Rider is an uncrewed robotic laboratory about the size of two minivans. After launch on Vega-C it will stay in low orbit for about two months. Experiments inside its cargo bay will allow technology demonstration and benefit research in pharmaceutics, biomedicine, biology and physical science. At the end of its mission, Space Rider will return to Earth with its payloads and land on a runway to be unloaded and refurbished for another flight.
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https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/11/Space_Rider_blueprint
 
INCAS Linkedin [Oct 2]

INCAS - National Institute for Aerospace Research "Elie Carafoli" successfully completed qualification and validation tests for the European Space Agency - ESA Space Rider Descent and Landing Test Model (#DLTM).

This important step follows past drop test campaigns (August 2024 and June 2025) where a mass simulator was used to validate the recovery system as well as parachute deployment and closed-loop autonomous control.

The #DLTM is a full-scale prototype that matches the #SpaceRider re-entry module's size, mass, shape, and landing gear, which will be used for the final drop test after all internal systems are installed.

#INCAS was responsible for the design and manufacturing of the DLTM, under a contract with the CIRA - Italian Aerospace Research Centre. The recent testing and validation campaign, completed at the end of September, confirmed the #SpaceRider prototype's structural integrity for flight and handling.
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Space Rider is set to be the first reusable European spacecraft. The uncrewed robotic laboratory will stay in low orbit for about two months. Space Rider’s cargo bay will allow for all manner of experiments and operations to be run. At the end of its missions, Space Rider reentry module will return to Earth, gliding under a parafoil to land on a runway.
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View: https://youtu.be/zJgCxgBghhw?si=j6Ee-JMF5HkQ2bpM
 
Plasma-hot Space Rider tests for belly and flaps

In brief​

  • The European Space Agency’s reusable spacecraft Space Rider’s thermal panels have undergone extensive heat-testing.
  • The thermal protection system was heated up to 1600 °C to reenact the intense temperatures Space Rider reentry module will experience when it returns to Earth from orbit.
  • The tests were conducted at the Italian Aerospace Research Centre plasma wind tunnel in Capua, Italy.
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