IGF::OT::IGF TERMINAL VELOCITY AEROSPACE, LLC (TVA) PROPOSES TO ENABLE COMMERCIAL SPACE ACTIVITY AND IMPROV…

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IGF::OT::IGF TERMINAL VELOCITY AEROSPACE, LLC (TVA) PROPOSES TO ENABLE COMMERCIAL SPACE ACTIVITY AND IMPROVE UTILIZATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS) THROUGH USE OF SMALL REENTRY DEVICES (REDS) FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE MATERIALS FLIGHT TESTING AND SMALL PAYLOAD RETURN MISSIONS. TVA IS PRESENTLY DEVELOPING TWO RED SYSTEMS WITH A HIGH DEGREE OF TECHNOLOGICAL SIMILARITY. THE FIRST IS RED-DATA2, A 1.7 KG CAPSULE THAT RIDES ALONG WITH A HOST VEHICLE TO COLLECT ENGINEERING DATA DURING REENTRY AND BREAKUP. RED-DATA2 CAN ALSO SERVE AS A TEST-BED FOR TESTING AND DEMONSTRATING HIGH-TEMPERATURE MATERIALS IN ACTUAL FLIGHT CONDITIONS. THE SECOND DEVICE, NAMED RED-4U, IS A RECOVERABLE CAPSULE SIZED TO ACCOMMODATE A PAYLOAD MASS AND VOLUME EQUIVALENT TO FOUR CUBESATS OR MORE. AS THE NEXT STEP IN HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT TOWARD COMMERCIALIZATION OF THESE SYSTEMS, TVA PROPOSES TO PRODUCE A FLIGHT UNIT RED-DATA2 AND AN ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT UNIT OF RED-4U. FLIGHT OF A RED-DATA2 SERVES AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BOTH DEMONSTRATE THE MATERIALS FLIGHT TEST MISSION, AND TO DEMONSTRATE KEY TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE RED-4U MISSION. THE RED-4U ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT UNIT IS AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD AN OPERATIONAL RED-4U SYSTEM FOR ON-DEMAND RETURN OF EXPERIMENT SAMPLES. BOTH RED-DATA2 AND RED-4U ENABLE INNOVATIVE COMMERCIAL SPACE ACTIVITY AND IMPROVED UTILIZATION OF THE ISS.