Speaker
Description
DRACO (Destructive Re-entry Assessment Container Object) is an ESA Space Safety mission designed to obtain the first in-situ measurements of a spacecraft’s fragmentation and demise during atmospheric re-entry. A washing machine-sized satellite will be intentionally deorbited, carrying approximately 200 sensors and multiple cameras to monitor structural breakup, thermal loads, and material behaviour. All data will be transmitted to a 40 cm survival capsule engineered to withstand the spacecraft’s disintegration and continue broadcasting during its parachute-assisted descent. Scheduled for launch in 2027, DRACO will provide unprecedented real flight data to improve re-entry modelling and support ESA’s Design for Demise and Zero Debris objectives by revealing how satellites actually disintegrate in the upper atmosphere.
The von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI) has played a central role in DRACO from Phase A through the consolidation Phase B/C, contributing to capsule design, aerothermodynamic modelling, and the experimental validation of critical subsystems. VKI’s work includes the definition and testing of the Thermal Protection System (TPS), the reentry capsule, the development of the Thermal Insulation System (TIS) for the onboard computer, and the demise characterisation of representative spacecraft materials and their instrumentation. These activities collectively strengthened the mission’s technical maturity and provided the evidence base required for Phase C consolidation towards CDR.
During Phase B/C, VKI executed an extensive plasma wind tunnel campaign to qualify the TIS and Sample Materials (SM) under conditions representative of DRACO’s re-entry environment. The TIS was tested against the mission-defined requirements, and multiple configurations were evaluated, including Sigratherm MFA-coated panels, MFA FF/Dalfatherm layups, a fully instrumented TIS box with a camera window, and a three-dimensional “corner” configuration. Across all tests, the TIS maintained structural integrity, coating adhesion, and acceptable back face temperatures.
The SM campaign investigated the demise behaviour and spectral signatures of materials expected on the DRACO platform. Tested items included lanthanum hexaboride marker material, additively manufactured titanium, titanium with embedded spectral markers, and coated titanium. The tests revealed clear emission signatures (La, Na, Ti, and oxide species) and documented melting, oxidation, and fragmentation processes relevant for re-entry demisability modelling and optical identification strategies. Additional tests will be carried out on instrumented structural elements of the satellite platform, such as aluminium L-profiles and anodised sandwich panels, including thermocouples, strain gauges, and heat flux sensors.