4.10.2025

Credit: INCAS / CIRA

Romania’s National Institute for Aerospace Research ‘Elie Carafoli’ (INCAS) has completed qualification testing of the Space Rider Descent and Landing Test Model (DLRM), marking a key milestone for the programme.

In December 2021, Thales Alenia Space awarded a contract to the Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA) to conduct a series of drop tests aimed at validating the recovery system of the Space Rider re-entry module. INCAS, working under CIRA’s coordination, is responsible for designing and manufacturing the Descent and Landing Research Model (DLRM), a prototype that mirrors the vehicle’s size, mass, aerodynamic shape, and landing gear.

The first Space Rider drop test campaign was completed in August 2024, using a 3,000 kg mass simulator dropped from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to validate the parachute deployment and guidance systems under ground control. In June 2025, a second campaign involved closed-loop autonomous recovery using the same mass simulator, equipped with sensors, avionics, and parafoil actuators. The simulator descended and landed under its own control, as it would during an actual mission.

Up to this point, the simulator used was essentially just a cube that mimicked the mass and weight distribution of the Space Rider re-entry module. A final drop test campaign will utilize the full-scale DLRM prototype developed by INCAS. This test campaign will evaluate the vehicle’s landing stability by simulating worst-case touchdown scenarios, ensuring that the payloads on board are not subjected to excessive shock.

On 30 September, CIRA announced that INCAS had completed “proof tests” of the Space Rider DLRM on 19 September. The testing was conducted to validate the structural integrity of the prototype by simulating specific flight and handling phases.

With this phase now complete, CIRA has begun equipping the DLRM prototype with its avionic subsystem, onboard software, and flight components like the landing gear and the parafoil. According to the 30 September announcement, the final Space Rider drop test campaign, which will be conducted at the Salto di Quirra testing range in Sardinia, is expected “in the coming months.”

Quelle: European Spaceflight LTD