Aerocapture Earth Demonstration Design to Support Future Planetary Mission Needs

Aerocapture is an orbital insertion maneuver that allows a spacecraft in hyperbolic flight to use aerodynamic forces within an atmosphere to reduce its energy and enter a captured orbit. Past research has shown that despite aerocapture systems needing a heatshield, the maneuver could save substantial overall mass in terms of orbital insertion fuel. Additionally, for many planetary destinations of interest, such as Uranus, Neptune, Venus, and Mars, aerocapture-based missions can take a more direct route to the planets, achieve orbit insertion with less propulsive mass, cut substantial operation time during cruise, and enable missions that have constrained budgets and ambitious science timelines. However, aerocapture has not been demonstrated at any planetary destination, so there is an impetus to showcase the maneuver at Earth to reduce implementation risks for planetary missions. This work describes a lower risk mission design for an aerocapture demonstration vehicle at Earth, using a small satellite as a chassis, but still demonstrating capabilities needed for planetary aerocapture missions and reducing the system risks associated with the concept.