Highly Efficient RLV-Return Mode “In-Air-Capturing” Progressing by Preparation of Subscale Flight Tests

Abstract

An innovative approach for the return of reusable space transportation vehicles has been proposed by DLR: The winged stages are to be caught in the air and towed by subsonic airplanes back to their launch site without any necessity of an own propulsion system. This patented procedure is called in-air-capturing. The paper describes how “in-air-capturing” works and quantifies performance advantages for RLV. It gives an overview of ongoing experimental and numerical work at DLR in raising the TRL within the project AKIRA. Afterwards, the H2020 project FALCon is explained and early available results are presented. In its final part, the paper proposes a development roadmap on how to bring this efficient RLV technology to reality.