A REVIEW OF BALLUTE TECHNOLOGY FOR PLANETARY AEROCAPTURE

Abstract

The aerocapture concept has long offered the potential for substantial mass savings over propulsive orbit insertion at other planets. Although incompletely developed and never flown, aerocapture is currently viewed as an enabling technology for a number of ambitious future robotic missions like Venus Surface Sample Return, Neptune Orbiter, Titan Organics Explorer and Saturn Ring Observer. This has spawned renewed interest in possible technological implementations, with particular emphasis on moderate lift aeroshells and inflatable ballutes. Although much less mature than aeroshells derived from atmospheric entry capsules, ballutes have a number of potential advantages including reduced mass and simplified navigation and control. Recent ballute studies have proposed design concepts that either mitigate or remove some of the key technical obstacles that have prevented ballutes from being implemented in the past. This paper reviews the recent work and discusses the remaining technical issues and uncertainties that must be addressed to produce working ballutes for planetary aerocapture.