IRDT 1

Launch data:

Mission details:

• The three-stage 11A511U Soyuz-U rocket placed Fregat and its payload in a suborbital trajectory. A first Fregat burn to transfer orbit was followed by a second burn at apogee to circularize the orbit. Fregat then deployed a 1-tonne dummy mass. The dummy satellite was placed in a 581 x 606 km x 64.8 deg orbit.
• After several hours, Fregat made a third burn to lower perigee, followed by a fourth at perigee to deorbit. It then separated the attached IRDT (Inflatable Reentry and Descent Technology) payload, a joint project between ESA, the German DASA and the Russian Lavochkin company. IRDT was built by DASA-Bremen and Lavochkin. IRDT separated, and both Fregat and IRDT deployed inflatable heat shields for reentry. According to the ESA web site they landed in Russia 8 hours after launch with an impact velocity of about 47 kph. No report yet on how well the payloads survived; a Russian report indicates the landing was in the Orenburg recovery zone but that the landers have not yet been found. IRDT was 110 kg and had a shield 0.8m in size packed, inflating to 3.6m dia. on use.
• The separate IRDT demonstrator was found and survived reentry well. The shield deployed to 2.5m diameter on reentry, but failed to extend to its 4m drag chute mode during final descent.