Mission engineers have set sail from Panama on the Nos Aries ship and are heading for the Pacific Ocean to await the splashdown of ESA’s unmanned IXV spaceplane.

IXV will be launched 320 km into space on top of a Vega rocket, VV04, climbing up to 420 km before beginning a long glide back through the atmosphere. In the process, IXV will gather data on reentry conditions to help guide the design of future spaceplanes.

More about IXV: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/IXV

Connect with IXV on Twitter: twitter.com/esa_ixv