Key facts
- In May, an anomaly during the captive ascent phase led to an aborted drop test while a CH-47 Chinook helicopter carried the vehicle to altitude, and ESA confirmed the vehicle was recovered safely.
- ESA's full-scale Space Rider test model was lost when its parafoil failed to deploy during a drop test conducted earlier this month, marking the second Space Rider drop-test anomaly in 2026 after a May abort.
- An ESA spokesperson told European Spaceflight that the vehicle was lost because of the anomaly and that an independent investigation is under way to find the root cause and guide next steps.
- ESA still expects Space Rider's inaugural flight in 2028, though the target has shifted from the first quarter to the second quarter of that year.
ESA lost its full-scale Space Rider test model earlier this month when the vehicle’s parafoil failed to deploy during a drop test, the program’s second drop-test anomaly in 2026 after a May abort.
The flight was part of the final system-level drop-test campaign. ESA used a full-scale model built to copy the craft’s mass, aerodynamic shape and landing gear, and the parafoil was meant to let the vehicle glide safely to the landing area. An ESA spokesperson told European Spaceflight that the vehicle was lost because of the anomaly and that an independent investigation is under way to find the root cause and guide next steps. European Spaceflight published its report on the loss on Oct. 20, 2026, describing the mishap as the second drop-test anomaly of the year after the aborted May attempt.
European Spaceflight updated its Oct. 20, 2026, report to describe the May attempt as aborted, not failed, correcting a prior version that wrongly called it the second failed drop test of the year. The correction appears as an editor’s note at the end of the article. In early May, an anomaly during the captive ascent phase forced ESA to call off the drop test while a CH-47 Chinook helicopter carried the vehicle to altitude. ESA confirmed the vehicle’s safe recovery.
Earlier campaigns used a smaller mass simulator. Drop tests in August 2024 and June 2025 flew a 3,000-kilogram mass simulator. The final system-level campaign used a full-scale model to check landing performance under more representative conditions; it matched the craft’s mass, aerodynamic form and landing gear.
ESA’s website describes Space Rider as an uncrewed robotic laboratory roughly the size of two minivans. After launching on Vega-C, Space Rider is designed to remain in low orbit for about two months, return to Earth carrying its payloads, touch down on a runway, and be unloaded and refurbished to fly again.
The operational mission is set to lift off aboard a Vega C rocket with the upgraded P160C first stage from the Guiana Space Centre. That flight is expected to be the first Vega C mission to use the more powerful solid-fuel booster.
ESA still expects Space Rider’s inaugural flight in 2028. The target has moved from the first quarter to the second quarter of that year.
After the May abort, ESA said it did not expect testing to resume before October, primarily because of test-range availability. ESA explained this timing at the time of the May anomaly. The October drop test ended in the loss of the vehicle. As of Oct. 20, 2026, ESA has not said whether ESA requires a replacement test model or when the next test attempt might occur.
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