The Use of Inflatable Structures for Re-entry of Orbiting Vehicles

901835

09/01/1990

Event
Aerospace Technology Conference and Exposition
Authors Abstract
Content
Inflatable recovery systems offer the unique advantage that a large high-drag shape can be stored initially in a relatively small package. The resulting shapes decelerate rapidly with lower heating inputs than other types of re-entry vehicles. Recent developments have led to some lightweight materials that, with little thermal protection, can withstand the heating inputs to such vehicles. As a result, inflatable recovery vehicles offer a simple, reliable and economical way to return various vehicles from orbit. This paper examines the application of this concept to a large and a small vehicle with the accompanying dynamics that might be expected. More complex systems could extend the concept to emergency personnel escape systems, payload abort and satellite recovery systems.
Meta TagsDetails
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4271/901835
Pages
12
Citation
Kendall, R., and Maddox, A., "The Use of Inflatable Structures for Re-entry of Orbiting Vehicles," SAE Technical Paper 901835, 1990, https://doi.org/10.4271/901835.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Sep 1, 1990
Product Code
901835
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English