The European Space Agency’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV), a new wingless space plane, is set to be tested on February 11. Here, it’s shown during fairing encapsulation in preparation for the launch.
During the test, the craft will undertake a 100-minute mission without a crew, reaching 420km above Earth. You can read more about the future of what could be our next space shuttle here. [ESA]