The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA) has announced the successful qualification of Space Rider’s Body Flaps, a key element of the reusable spacecraft’s thermal protection system.
Space Rider’s Re-entry Module is designed to be reused for up to six missions with minimal refurbishment between flights. A key component of the thermal protection system that will enable this capability is the vehicle’s Body Flaps, a pair of movable aerodynamic surfaces located at the rear of the Re-entry Module. These flaps play a crucial role in controlling the vehicle’s attitude and stability during atmospheric re-entry. By adjusting these flaps, the spacecraft can maintain its pitch and roll, ensuring a controlled descent through various stages of re-entry and recovery.
Each flap has a mass of just 10 kilograms and measures 900 by 700 millimetres. The flaps are constructed from a ceramic material called ISiComp, developed by CIRA and its partner Petroceramics. During re-entry, the flaps will bear loads in excess of 1,200 kilograms and withstand maximum temperature peaks of 1,650 degrees Celsius.
In a 20 February update, CIRA announced that it had completed all qualification tests for the Space Rider Body Flaps, allowing it to move forward with the manufacture of the first flight-ready iterations.
Head of the Space Transportation System Unit at CIRA, Giuseppe Rufolo, described the qualification of the Body Flaps as a “significant achievement.” He also revealed that CIRA will soon begin dynamic qualification testing of the Space Rider nose cone in the coming weeks. This 1.3-metre-diameter component is another key element of Space Rider’s thermal protection system and is manufactured using the same ceramic material as the Body Flaps.
The inaugural flight of Space Rider is currently expected to launch aboard a Vega C rocket in 2027.
