Inversion wins NASA contract to study aerocapture with its Arc vehicle
Inversion Space · NASA
NASA tapped Inversion Space to study using its Arc reentry vehicle to demonstrate aerocapture at Earth for future interplanetary missions.
what happened
NASA awarded Inversion Space a contract to study how its Arc lifting-body reentry vehicle could demonstrate aerocapture, a technique that uses a planetary atmosphere to slow an incoming spacecraft, for the first time at Earth, the company said. Inversion CEO Justin Fiaschetti said the study could open the door for Arc to support future missions to Mars, Titan, Uranus and Venus.
why it matters
Aerocapture would let deep-space missions carry less propellant and arrive faster than missions that fire thrusters to slow down, and a successful Earth demonstration would give NASA a commercially available reentry vehicle to prove the technique before committing it to an interplanetary mission.
for who
Deep-space mission planners, reentry vehicle developers
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Inversion Space, NASA
- Category
- contract
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-09-10
- Published
- 2026-09-10 17:31 UTC