Testing of the recyclable spacecraft in Quirra: it will be launched from a height of three kilometers.

The European "reusable" spacecraft Space Rider is (almost) ready. Tests will be conducted at the Quirra test range during 2026 to evaluate its landing capabilities. Missions can then be planned.

The Italian Aerospace Research Center (CIRA) recently completed the construction of the first full-scale test model. The fully automated and reusable spacecraft is the result of a program promoted by the European Space Agency (ESA), with Thales Alenia Space Italia (Leonardo Group) as prime contractor, in collaboration with Avio. Capable of carrying a payload of approximately 800 kilograms, it will be used for experiments in low orbit and in microgravity conditions. At the end of its missions, Space Rider's reentry module will return to Earth, gliding with a parachute to land on a runway.

No operational spacecraft has ever been designed for such a reentry. The drop test model that will be used at Quirra was built in Craiova, Romania, at the Elie Carafoli National Aerospace Research Institute (INCAS), before being shipped to CIRA in Capua, Italy. CIRA is responsible for the design, integration, and implementation of the drop test.

About the size of a minivan, the test model is a full-size replica of the 4.6-meter-long reentry module.

"It's wonderful to see Space Rider taking shape like this. The teams have been working on this project for years, and although it's a test model, it looks and weighs very similar to the real thing," says Aldo Scaccia, Space Rider Space Segment Manager for ESA. "The teams can't wait to put this model to the test and see it fly and glide."

To test the final landing procedure, Space Rider will be released several times throughout the year from a helicopter that will fly up to 3 kilometers above the Salto di Quirra firing range.