Wind tunnel experiments of interstage segments used for aerodynamic control of retro‐propulsion assisted landing vehicles

Abstract

In the RETALT (RETro propulsion Assisted Landing Technologies) project vertical landing launcher configurations are investigated. In the aerodynamic phase of retro propulsion assisted descent and landing, the main devices for control and trim of the vehicle are the aerodynamic control surfaces. In this paper, experimental data of a novel concept where the interstage is divided in four segments which are used as aerodynamic control surface during the aerodynamic descent of the first stage is presented. The results are compared to theoretical results obtained using a simplified modelling of supersonic and hypersonic flow fields. The interstage segments show to be very effective in creating drag for aerodynamic deceleration in the atmosphere. A large deflection of the interstage segments can lead to largely unsteady flows. The deflection of only one interstage segment does not yield statically stable configurations.