• Space Rider aims to provide Europe with an affordable, independent, reusable end-to-end integrated space transportation system for routine access and return from low orbit. It will be used to transport payloads for an array of applications, orbit altitudes and inclinations. Credit: ESA
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    ESA aims to privatize Space Rider unmanned spaceplane by 2025

    Europe’s Space Rider reusable spaceplane is three years or so from its debut, but the European Space Agency is already making plans to privatize the unmanned orbital vehicle. ESA officials said Space Rider could be operating commercially by 2025, flying science payloads and bringing them back to Earth for roughly $9,200 per kilogram.

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