The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully tested the Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (IAD), which will be used in the future to land payloads on Mars or Venus. The IAD is being developed to decelerate an object descending through the atmosphere aerodynamically.
The technology was folded and stored in the payload bay of a sounding rocket launched from TERLS Thumba. The rocket carried the IAD to an altitude of 84 kilometers, where it was inflated and descended through the atmosphere with the sounding rocket’s payload. According to ISRO, the primary goal of this mission was to demonstrate IAD technology for use in spent stage recovery and planetary entry.
ISRO revealed in a brief that the IAD is stored in the nosecone of the single-stage Rohini-300 (RH300MKIl) Sounding Rocket. “The nosecone is separated 100 seconds after takeoff, followed by IAD inflation at 110 seconds using compressed Nitrogen stored in a gas bottle. An FLSC separation system is used to separate the payload from the motor 200 seconds after takeoff “ISRO stated.
During the test, the IAD reduced the payload’s velocity through aerodynamic drag and followed the predicted trajectory. This is the first time an IAD has been specifically designed for spent stage recovery. “All of the mission’s objectives were successfully demonstrated,” ISRO said.
“This demonstration opens the door to cost-effective spent stage recovery using Inflatable Aerodynamics Decelerator technology, and this IAD technology can also be used in ISRO’s future missions to Venus and Mars,” said ISRO chief S Somanath in a statement.
The IAD is made of Kevlar fabric that has been coated with Polychloroprene. Because it is made of fabric, IAD can be packed into a small volume of 15 litres, which is available in the RH300’s nosecone.
The mission on Saturday served as a test bed for nine new elements developed at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and LPSC, which include the following:
* Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator & Inflation system
* Micro Video Imaging System
* Software Defined Radio Telemetry-Dual Transmitter (SDRT-DTx)
* Acoustics Processing Unit with mini-IMAS (Indigenous MEMS Acoustic Sensors)
* New software for wind compensation for TERLS
* Modified nosecone separation system
* Modified FLSC separation system for RH300
* Improved 1s delay detonator for spin rocket separation
* Thermally conducting and electrically insulating potting compound ATCAP-75-7030
