New drop tests advance Space Rider precision landing system

New drop tests advance Space Rider precision landing system
by Erica Marchand
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 18, 2025

Space Rider, ESA's reusable orbital vehicle, has taken a major step forward in validating its precision landing system. The spacecraft, roughly the size of two minivans, is designed for missions ranging from pharmaceutical production to orbital platform servicing. It can remain in orbit for up to three months before autonomously returning to Earth using a parafoil-guided descent and skid landing.

After a two-month campaign in 2024, ESA's team returned to the Salto di Quirra test range in Sardinia, Italy, in 2025 for two weeks of intensive drop tests. These latest tests focused on verifying the spacecraft's parachute system and autonomous flight-control software.

During the campaign, engineers dropped test articles from Italian Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters from altitudes between 1 and 2.5 kilometers. The two main objectives were to qualify the parachute sequence and to test software that controls the parafoil guiding the reentry module to its designated landing point.

Space Rider's descent relies on a multistage parachute deployment: an initial drogue chute deploys just below supersonic speed, followed by a pilot chute that pulls out the large parafoil around 5 km altitude. Three tests successfully demonstrated the full deployment sequence, showing the system can reduce speed as needed and ensure controlled, guided descent.

In addition to parachute tests, three closed-loop autonomous drop tests were conducted. A specialized test pallet mimicking the reentry module's weight and equipped with control avionics, sensors, winches, and ballast autonomously steered itself to landing. With no ground intervention, the pallet descended from 2.5 km, flew for 12 minutes, and landed within 150 meters of its target, descending at just 2 m/s.

Led by Thales Alenia Space Italia, prime contractor for Space Rider, the campaign involved collaboration with partners including Sener, CIMSA, Teseo, and Meteomatics. Critical support came from the Italian Air Force and Army, who provided access to the range and managed flight operations.

The next phase includes full-system drop tests using a mockup of the reentry module that matches the real unit in weight, shape, and landing gear. A final series of tests will assess landing stability under worst-case scenarios using a specialized impact rig.

The campaign also marks the debut of a new landing facility at Salto di Quirra, built with support from the Italian Ministry of Defence. This site is dedicated to suborbital module testing and future space transportation initiatives.

Space Rider is engineered for rapid reusability, with a six-month turnaround between missions, enabling recurring scientific experimentation in low Earth orbit.