Study on Mini Re-Entry System Using Deployable Membrane Aeroshell

Abstract

An aeroshell made from membrane material have an advantage of reduction in the aerodynamic heating, because its small mass and large area enable us to make the low-ballistic-coefficient flight, in which the vehicle decelerates at very high altitude with low atmospheric density. In this paper, we propose a new concept of mini re-entry system for small satellites. This vehicle is called "FEATHER" (Flexible Expanded Aeroshell with Tiny payload Harness for Entry and Recovery). "FEATHER" is a novel re-entry and recovery system, featuring the autonomous aeroshell deployment, the low-ballistic-coefficient re-entry with less severe aerodynamicc heating and so on. FEATHER is composed of the membrane aeroshell made from the high-temperature cloth called ZYLON®, an outer frame made of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) and a payload. When the aeroshell receives the aerodynamic heating, the temperature of SMA frame rises and restores the circular shape as memorized beforehand. Then the membrane aeroshell is automatically deployed. Therefore the vehicle can achieve the low-ballistic-coefficient flight with a drastic reduction in the aerodynamic heating without any additional sensors, controllers and actuators. The preliminary studies made on FEATHER system so far including the hypersonic wind tunnel experiments are presented in this paper.