The European Space Agency had a successful test of its unmanned mini-spacecraft Wednesday, launching theIntermediate eXperimental Vehicle and recovering it after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The design of the IXV spaceplane, as the ESA calls it, will ultimately result in a reusable spacecraft. The big push now is to develop re-entry capability and data gathered during Wednesday's test will be used toward that end. The 16-foot-long IXV lifted off at 8:40 a.m. Eastern Time from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, atop a Vega rocket. It separated from the rocket at an altitude of about 211 miles above the earth and climbed to 256 miles before beginning its descent, reaching supersonic speeds and decelerating with parachutes before splashdown.
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