Inflatable Heat Shields solutions for hypersonic re-entry applications: the European Commission EFESTO-2 project

Abstract

Inflatable Heat Shields (IHS) are getting an increased interest in the field of some hypersonic applications as the one of re-entry. In Europe the “ram’s head” project EFESTO-1 (European Flexible Heat Shields: Advanced TPS Design and Tests for Future In-Orbit Demonstration), funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 program and run form 2109 and 2021, allowed the scientific community to carry out an early exploration of the potential use of this technology to recover space systems re-entering from LEO (e.g.: launch vehicle stages, satellites, space station elements). ([1] to [3]) In track-lay of EFESTO-1, the project EFESTO-2, funded by the EU program Horizon Europe, aims to further increasing the European know-how in the field of Inflatable Heat Shields (HIS) and seeks to improve further the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of IHS. ([4] to [6]) The EFESTO-2 project built on four pillars: (1) consolidation of use-case applicability through a business case analysis for a meaningful space application; (2) extension of investigation spectrum of the father project EFESTO; (3) increase of confidence-level and robustness of tools/models; (4) consolidation of European leadership among the scientific and industrial community in this specific field. This paper presents the EFESTO-2 project’s work and achievements up to completion going: execution of a mission and system design loop for a reference application; implementation of a testing effort covering structural characterization of the inflatable structure as well as deformable shape investigation from the aerodynamic standpoint including stability; verification and improvement of numerical models both at structure and aero-shape levels; identification of the roadmap for near-future maturation. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No 1010811041.