Colloquium: Briek Luyten (Space Flight)

With the advent of Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs) on the European launch market, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR)’s In-Air Capturing (IAC) recovery technique promises a competitive reduction in launch costs. Central to this IAC procedure is the Aerodynamically Controlled Capturing Device (ACCD), which is deployed from a Towing Aircraft (TA) by means of a tether. It intercepts a returning RLV, and provides a structural interface between the TA and RLV during tow-back. Once in the vicinity of a landing site, the ACCD releases the towing connection, and the RLV lands autonomously. Whereas the aerodynamic shell of the ACCD has been defined and studied in the past, an in-depth exploration of its electromechanical design space has not been performed previously. This work proposes a systems engineering approach to fill the corresponding design gap, based on the definition of key requirements and risks characterizing the ACCD’s functionalities, and its operational environment.

Supervisor: B.T.C. Zandbergen (TU Delft) + S. Singh (DLR)