The European Space Agency (ESA) lost a Space Rider test model on Oct. 6 after its parafoil, a steerable parachute, detached during a drop test over Sardinia, Italy, ESA officials said at an Oct. 22 media briefing, according to European Spaceflight.
An ESA spokesperson told European Spaceflight that the test model "was lost as a result of the anomaly."
According to Géraldine Naja, ESA's director of space transportation, the model was released from a helicopter about 3 kilometers above a military test range. The drop test was meant to demonstrate Space Rider's complete descent and landing sequence using a model representative of the spacecraft's mass, shape and inertia, she said.