IXV VV04 - Placement onto the payload adapter (PLA)

IXV VV04 - Placement of IXV onto the Payload Adapter (PLA) on 26 January 2015 at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. ESA’s experimental vehicle will shape future technological development by offering a wealth of precious data that will boost reentry research around Europe. There are just some things that cannot be tested in the same way in laboratories. IXV represents the industrial, technological and scientific expertise of a consortium of around 40 industries, research centres and universities, mainly in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland and Portugal, with support coming from Germany and the Netherlands.