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.
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