Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiement - ILC Dover

ILC worked in conjunction with NASA Langley Research Center to develop, design, and fabricate IRVE. The goals of IRVE were to demonstrate that an inflatable aeroshell could withstand the pressures and temperatures of a hypersonic re-entry (Mach 5). IRVE was the first ever successful in-space deployment and earth entry of an inflatable aeroshell.

Launched on a Black Brant-IX sounding rocket out of the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on August 17, 2009, IRVE was inflated shortly after reaching a height of 211km. Packed into a radius of 0.4m, the aeroshell was 3.0m in diameter when deployed. The IRVE inflatable was engineered and built by ILC and consisted of an outer insulation layer, a restraint layer, and an inner bladder layer. ILC supported integrated, test, and launch activities for this very successful flight program.

IRVE not only met, but exceeded expectations, maintaining a stable descent and inflation pressure, while recording valuable data well past the scheduled conclusion of the flight experiment. IRVE received a 2010 NASA Team Center award for successfully demonstrating the deployment and reentry of a hypersonic inflatable aeroshell.