The radiofrequency ion thruster assembly (RITA) is currently built as a flight experiment which shall be flown on the European retrievable carrier (Eureca I). This test flight shall verify the operational use of this electric propulsion system in space by demonstration of operation, lifetime and reliability. For this purpose the RITA experiment has been adapted to meet the specific constraints imposed by the Eureca I spacecraft and by the Space Shuttle as the launcher; xenon gas will be used as the propellant and the experiment will be operated automatically by means of a dedicated on-board microcomputer system. According to the delay in launches by the Space Shuttle the launch date has been postponed from March 1988 to 1991/92. Therefore the total Eureca program has been extended, which also influenced the RITA time schedule.