usv Polluce drop test flight

USV (Unmanned Space Vehicle) is the italian CIRA programme based on flying laboratories. The first flight was performed on 24th February 2007 by the twin vehicle named CASTORE.
A new Drop Flight Test was succesfully performed on 11th April 2010, reproducing the final part of a typical reentry trajectory from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with the use of a high aerodynamic efficiency flying laboratory named POLLUCE. The test is one of those included in the CIRA advanced reentry technology road map that will bring to a Mach 8 flight within 3 years, aiming at a fully lifted reentry flight from orbit. This technology will strongly support the development of new hypersonic systems for future civil aviation and space transportation toward Low Earth Orbit and beyond.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• shuttle
• transonic
• hypersonic
• flight
• usv
• uav
• stratospheric
• balloon
• drop
• space
• test
• unmanned
• cira
• asi
• high speed
• aviation