---
title: "European Space Plane Set For February Launch"
description: "Developed over five years at a cost of 150 million euros ($190 million), the plane is the testbed for a reusable vehicle that may one day be able to land on a conventional runway on Earth after a mission to space"
date: "2014-11-22"
modified: "2015-08-13"
authors:
  - name: "Amber Raynolds"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/amber24"
url: "https://futurism.com/european-space-plane-set-february-launch"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "space"
---

# European Space Plane Set For February Launch

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/399446-9e8ba18c-71af-11e4-ad68-c33d50396880.jpg>)

- Europe's first-ever "space plane" will be launched on February 11 next year, rocket firm Arianespace said Friday after a three-month delay to fine-tune the mission flight plan
- The unmanned, car-sized vessel will be sent into low orbit by Europe's Vega light rocket, on a 100-minute fact-finding flight
- The plane will be boosted from Europe's space pad in Kourou, French Guiana, and separate from its launcher at an altitude of 320 kilometres